Tag: GOP tax scam

Live: How Each House Member Voted on the Tax Bill

NOTE:  Rep. Erik Paulsen voted FOR the GOP tax bill, as he did for the GOP health insurance bill.  Both didn’t put the interests of the majority of his constituents first, but those of the ultra rich and large corporations.

The following article by Sarah Almukhtar, Audrey Carlsen, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Blacki Migliozzi, Alicia Parlapiano, Jugal K. Patel and Rachel Shorey was posted on the New York Times website December 19, 2017:

Live: How Each House Member Voted on the Tax Bill

The House voted on Tuesday to pass the Republican tax overhaul bill. The Times tracked how every representative voted, live from the House chamber.

Continue reading “Live: How Each House Member Voted on the Tax Bill”

GOP tax bill passes House, Senate to vote late Tuesday

The following article by Jeff Stein was posted on the Washington Post website December 19, 2017:

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) listens during a news conference after a GOP conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

The House of Representatives passed Republicans’ sweeping tax overhaul on Tuesday, sending the plan to the Senate and setting the stage for the bill to be signed by President Trump as early as this week.

“This is about expanding opportunity to people who are striving to make the most of their lives,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said before the vote Tuesday. “We know in this country that we’re not reaching our potential. And we know one of the greatest things we can do to do that is to pass this tax reform bill” Continue reading “GOP tax bill passes House, Senate to vote late Tuesday”

‘Corker Kickback’ sends Republicans scrambling in advance of tax vote

The following article by Judd Legum was posted on the ThinkProgress website December 17, 2017:

What happened? Bob Corker, and many others, want answers.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. (Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Bob Corker, a Republican Senator from Tennessee, is retiring. He has made a show of criticizing Trump’s agenda, and he was the only Republican to vote against the Senate version of the tax bill, citing deficit concerns. Independent analysis shows the bill would increase the deficit by about $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Continue reading “‘Corker Kickback’ sends Republicans scrambling in advance of tax vote”

Trump risks losing what’s left of his populist street cred with GOP tax bill

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website December 18, 2017:

Politicians continued to debate the merits of the Republican tax overhaul on Dec. 17. The House could vote on the bill as soon as Dec. 20. (Patrick Martin/The Washington Post)

THE BIG IDEA: The narrative of President Trump’s first year will shift this week when he signs into law the biggest overhaul of the tax code in three decades. The donor class is enthusiastic, and final passage should help reverse months of anemic fundraising at entities like the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

It is a much-needed win for Trump and the GOP, who would have looked ineffective if he couldn’t get this done, but it may still turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory. Here are several ways that this bill could backfire: Continue reading “Trump risks losing what’s left of his populist street cred with GOP tax bill”

Reduce Taxes…Increase Debt

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website December 18, 2017:

Republicans have been dismissive of claims – including CBO projections – that the tax plan winding its way through Congress will increase the national debt by an estimated 1.5 trillion dollars. Other estimates put the cost of the tax cuts at 2.3 trillion dollars if  they are extended. Whatever the actual amount that the tax cuts add to the debt, the following facts remain:

  • After decades of tagging Democrats as “tax and spend liberals,” Republican lawmakers are voting for a significant increase to the national debt.
  • Nearly all economists dispute Republicans’ rosy economic estimates that growth will increase sufficiently to counter the increase in debt. Continue reading “Reduce Taxes…Increase Debt”

GOP tax scam: How corporations and the rich are fueling inequality

The following commentary by Nell Abernathy and Steph Sterling was posted on the USA Today website December 18, 2017:

Political and economic power are now inseparable. We must dismantle not just this abysmal plan but also the structural conditions that wrought it.

The tax plan that Republican congressional leaders hope to pass this week and send to President Trump will soon be regarded as the zenith in a story nearly 40 years in the making, where corporations and a handful of America’s wealthiest families — some of whom now hold positions in the government directly — leverage their outsized economic power into political power. It is what happens when corporate and political power become inseparable. It is a call to arms to dismantle not just the plan itself, but the structural conditions that wrought it. Continue reading “GOP tax scam: How corporations and the rich are fueling inequality”

Tax plan could be dramatic in Minnesota

The following article by Jim Spencer, Maya Rao and MaryJo Webster was posted on the StarTribune website December 19, 2017:

Revamp has many in the state confused and on edge.

Julie Kolbow has spent hours building spreadsheets to figure out how the tax overhaul under debate in Washington would affect her family of five in Chanhassen.  She and her husband own small businesses and have two children in college, and she worries that the legislation could lower the amount of taxes they can deduct. Continue reading “Tax plan could be dramatic in Minnesota”

An update on winners and losers on the U.S. tax scorecard

The following article by Beth Pinsker was posted on the Reuters website December 16, 2017 and updated December 18, 2017:

A man walks the campus of the City College of New York in the Harlem borough of New York, U.S., December 16, 2017. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

NEW YORK (Reuters) – In the lead-up to the conference agreement for the U.S. Tax Cut & Jobs Act released on Friday, there were too many moving parts for most Americans to know how it would affect them.

Until the bill is voted into law, the various provisions are still a moving target, but taxpayers now have a better sense of the real math of what it means to them.

Here is an update on what some of the key issues would mean to your wallet: Continue reading “An update on winners and losers on the U.S. tax scorecard”

Will Passing The Tax Bill Help The GOP In 2018? Probably Not.

The following article by Harry Enten was posted on the FiveThirtyEight website December 18, 2017:

Protesters demonstrate near the full Senate budget committee markup of the tax reform legislation on Capital Hill November 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. Republicans in the Senate hope to pass their legislation this week and work with the House of Representatives to get a bill to President Donald Trump before Christmas. Credit:
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

President Trump’s first year has been marked by an almost complete lack of major policy wins.1 But that could come to an end this week. Congress is on the verge of passing a massive tax bill into law. It would be the first major legislative victory for Trump and the Republicans. And it would accomplish a long-held GOP goal: cutting the corporate tax rate.

But policy wins and political wins don’t always go hand in hand. Republicans who believe that failing to pass this tax bill will be a disaster for them in the 2018 midterm elections, like Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham, are likely to be disappointed.

This tax bill remains historically unpopular. According to an average of nine surveys taken this month, 33 percent of Americans are in favor of it, and 52 percent are opposed. That -19 percentage point split between support and opposition makes it the least popular major tax bill since at least the Ronald Reagan tax cuts in 1981. Continue reading “Will Passing The Tax Bill Help The GOP In 2018? Probably Not.”

The Tax Bill’s Winners and Losers

The following article by Jesse Drucker and Alan Rappeport was posted on the New York Times website December 16, 2017:

President Trump, with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is part owner of his own real estate firm, will both benefit from breaks for commercial real estate in the tax legislation. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

President Trump has called the $1.5 trillion tax cut that Republican lawmakers are on the verge of passing a Christmas present for the entire nation.

But the fine print reveals that some will get a much nicer gift than others, the benefits will change over time, and some will be left out in the cold. Real estate developers and technology companies could see big tax cuts, while low-income households and people buying health insurance could lose out.

With the bill finally headed to a vote this coming week, taxpayers are scrambling to determine whether the legislation renders them winners or losers. Continue reading “The Tax Bill’s Winners and Losers”