Tag: GOP corporate welfare

Six Things to Watch as Tax Overhaul Endgame Nears

The following article by Ryan McCrimmon was posted on the Roll Call website December 11, 2017:

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady says both Senate and House tax plans have “strengths” when it comes to the treatment of income of pass-through entities. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

A number of sticking points emerged last week as Republican lawmakers began jockeying for their favorite parts of the House and Senate tax plans.

Top tax writers from each chamber will formally meet Wednesday at 2 p.m. to discuss their differences, but the real negotiations have already begun behind the scenes.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthysaid last week a finished tax bill likely wouldn’t be ready this week, so final votes could come just before lawmakers leave for the holidays. Congress is scheduled to remain in town until at least Dec. 22, when a stopgap government spending measure expires. Continue reading “Six Things to Watch as Tax Overhaul Endgame Nears”

Taxing the rich to help the poor? Here’s what the Bible says

The following article by Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy Cross, was posted on the Conversation website December 10, 2017:

Credit: Associated

The new tax reform bill has led to an intense debate over whether it would help or hurt the poor. Tax reform in general raises critical issues about whether the government should redistribute income and promote equality in the first place.

Jews and Christians look to the Bible for guidance about these questions. And while the Bible is clear about aiding the poor, it does not provide easy answers about taxing the rich. But even so, over the centuries biblical principles have provided an understanding on how to help the needy.

The Hebrew Bible and the poor

The Hebrew Bible has extensive regulations that require the wealthy to set aside for the poor a portion of the crops that they grow. Continue reading “Taxing the rich to help the poor? Here’s what the Bible says”

The Middle Class Might Not Even Notice If the GOP Cuts Their Taxes

The following article by Sahil Kapur was posted on the Bloomberg.com website December 11, 2017:

  • Americans didn’t notice similar measure in 2009, poll showed
  • Republicans seek ‘more middle-income tax relief,’ Roskam says
Jared Bernstein Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

A funny thing happened when Congress approved a tax cut for the middle class eight years ago: Most Americans didn’t notice.

The 2009 economic-stimulus bill contained a one-year tax break worth $800 for married couples in 95 percent of working households — a little over $15 a week. A February 2010 poll found that just 12 percent said their taxes had been reduced. More than half, 53 percent, said they saw no change. A remarkable 24 percent thought their taxes had increased.

“Virtually nobody believed they got a tax cut,” said Jared Bernstein, an economist who worked in former President Barack Obama’s White House. He called it a source of frustration at the time. Continue reading “The Middle Class Might Not Even Notice If the GOP Cuts Their Taxes”

Precision sacrificed for speed as GOP rushes ahead on taxes

The following article by Erica Werner was posted on the Washington Post website December 10, 2017:

Now that the Senate and the House have passed two tax bills, there are some crucial differences they need to resolve in conference. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Republicans are moving their tax plan toward final passage at stunning speed, blowing past Democrats before they’ve had time to fully mobilize against it but leaving the measure vulnerable to the types of expensive problems popping up in their massive and complex plan.

Questionable special-interest provisions have been stuffed in along the way, out of public view and in some cases literally in the dead of night. Drafting errors by exhausted staff are cropping up and need fixes, which must be tackled by congressional negotiators working to reconcile competing versions of the legislation passed separately by the House and the Senate. Continue reading “Precision sacrificed for speed as GOP rushes ahead on taxes”

Really? A Tax Break For Dark Money Outfits?

The following article by David Sirota with the International Business Times was posted on the National Memo website December 8, 2017:

With Republican megadonors like Charles Koch, 82, and his brother David, 77, advancing in age, a top GOP senator from the Kochs’ home state has proposed a special tax break for moguls who bequeath their riches to so-called “dark money” groups that advocate for policies and bankroll lawmakers’ election ads. Though Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts’ proposal did not make it into the Senate-passed version of the tax bill, it could still be added by the conference committee that will write the final $1.4 trillion tax cut legislation.

Although dark money groups are entitled to conceal the identities of their donors, reporting has shown the Koch brothers are some of most prolific deployers of such groups. Roberts’ proposal would provide a new post-mortem tax break to boost that activity — at a moment when the Republican Party’s biggest donors include septa- and octogenarians such as the Kochs, Sheldon Adelson, 84, Robert Mercer, 71, and Foster Freiss, 77.  Continue reading “Really? A Tax Break For Dark Money Outfits?”

If the G.O.P. Tax Plan Hurts You, Congressmen Say It’s Your State’s Fault

The following article by Jesse McKinley and Nick Corasaniti was posted on the New York Times website December 7, 2017:

Representative Tom Reed, left, was one of four House Republicans from New York to vote for his party’s tax plan. Credit J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

ALBANY — The five House Republicans have heard the calls for their heads, the references to them being traitors, hypocrites and worse for supporting a tax plan backed by their party, but harmful to the states they represent.

Not content to merely defend their votes, the five representatives from New York and New Jersey have begun a counteroffensive, seeking to turn the tables and blame state leaders for helping create high-tax environments.

“The problem is not the federal tax policy,” said Representative Tom Reed, a Republican who represents the struggling Southern Tier of New York, and voted yes on the House version of the bill in November. “The root cause of the entire issue is the tax-and-spend culture out of Albany that has created that burden on New Yorkers.” Continue reading “If the G.O.P. Tax Plan Hurts You, Congressmen Say It’s Your State’s Fault”

An Economic Sugar High

The following article by Andrew Soergel was posted on the U.S. News and World Report website December 8, 2017:

Many economists aren’t optimistic about the long-term implications of the GOP’s tax overhaul.

President Donald Trump and the GOP congressional leadership have pitched their tax package – the passage of which appears to be a virtual certainty at this stage of the game – as a sure-fire formula to propel
As recently as Wednesday, Trump was quoted during a Cabinet meeting as saying he sees “no reason why we don’t go to 4 percent, 5 percent and even 6 percent” gross domestic product expansion in the months and years ahead.

Economists have broadly doubted these claims – though few quibble with the idea that the GOP-constructed tax plan would have a modestly positive impact on markets and the economy over the near term. Analyses from the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Tax Policy Center and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Budget Modelhave all predicted a final bill, in a best case scenario, would add a few fractions of a percentage point to the country’s GDP growth rate over the course of the next 10 years. Continue reading “An Economic Sugar High”

Conservative Groups Seeking Support for Tax Cuts Find It a Hard Sell

The following article by Jeremy W. Peters was posted on the New York Times website December 6, 2017:

So far, Americans for Prosperity and its field staff and volunteers have visited more than 41,000 homes and made 1.1 million phone calls. Credit Cassi Alexandra for The New York Times

MIAMI — A dozen high school students working for Americans for Prosperity, the conservative political network funded by Charles G. and David H. Koch, fanned out across the Little Havana neighborhood one day last week to make the case that the Republican tax bill was something to get excited about.

“We believe it’s time to fix our broken tax code and let families keep more of what they earn,” Barbara D’Ambrosio, a sophomore, dutifully told an elderly woman who answered the door in her slippers. After she finished her script, Barbara glanced up from the iPad she was carrying and asked if the woman would kindly call her senators to urge them to support the tax bill, which was hours away from being approved by the Senate.

The woman stared at her silently for a moment. Then she nodded, politely but unconvincingly. Continue reading “Conservative Groups Seeking Support for Tax Cuts Find It a Hard Sell”

Tax Plan Crowns a Big Winner: Trump’s Industry

The following article by Patricia Cohen and Jesse Drucker was posted on the New York Times website December 5, 2017:

A real estate investment trust helped rescue a stake held by Kushner Companies in 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Such trusts would get new advantages under Republican tax legislation. Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times

After a frenzy of congressional action to rewrite the tax code, salesclerks and chief executives are calculating their gains. Business was treated with the everyone’s-a-winner approach that ensures no summer camper goes home without a trophy.

Some got special prizes. Cruise lines, craft beer and wine producers (even foreign ones), car dealers, private equity, and oil and gas pipeline managers did particularly well. And perhaps the biggest winner is the industry where President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, made their millions: commercial real estate.

House and Senate Republicans, in their divergent bills, both offered steeply reduced rates to corporate giants, partnerships and family-owned firms across the board. But when it came time to eliminate special breaks or impose tighter standards, real estate was generally excused from the room. Continue reading “Tax Plan Crowns a Big Winner: Trump’s Industry”

Estimates of the Increase in Uninsured by Congressional District Under the Senate GOP Tax Bill

The following article by Emily Gee was posted on the Center for American Progress website December 5, 2017:

Mitch McConnell Credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts

Last week, the Senate dealt a blow to health care by repealing the individual coverage mandate as part of its tax bill. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimatedthat repeal of the mandate will result in millions more uninsured over the next decade, even if Congress approves a market stabilization package. A major portion of the newly uninsured would come from the individual market, where mandate repeal would raise premiums and drive some people out of coverage altogether.

The CBO projects that 4 million fewer people would have coverage in 2019 and 13 million fewer would be covered by 2025. As a result, the share of the nonelderly population that is uninsured would swell to 16 percent by 2025, compared with about 10 percent currently. By simply allocating the 13 million proportionally across states, the Center for American Progress estimates that, on average, about 29,800 more people would be uninsured in each congressional district by 2025 under the Senate Republican tax bill. CAP previously published state-level estimates of coverage reductions due to mandate repeal here. Continue reading “Estimates of the Increase in Uninsured by Congressional District Under the Senate GOP Tax Bill”