Tag: GOP tax scam

Tax Cuts Buoy Republicans, but They’re Swimming Against an Undertow

The following article by Jonathan Martin was posted on the New York Times website December 21, 2017:

President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, the House speaker Paul Ryan and the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell at the White House yesterday. Credit Al Drago for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The sweeping tax overhaul approved by Congress this week hands Republicans a long-sought achievement they believe will bolster their defenses in next year’s midterm campaign, but party officials concede the measure may only mitigate their losses in what is shaping up to be a punishing election year.

While the tax legislation is broadly unpopular as it reaches President Trump’s desk, the bill offers Republicans the sort of signature accomplishment they have been lacking to galvanize their demoralized donors and many of their voters. Continue reading “Tax Cuts Buoy Republicans, but They’re Swimming Against an Undertow”

Reality Check: The State And Local Tax Deduction

The following article by Pat Kessler was posted on the WCCO-TV website December 20, 2017:

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — President Trump celebrated Congress passing into law a major overhaul of America’s tax system.

It’s the biggest change to the tax code in decades.

It will take a few weeks for the average Minnesota worker to feel the effects of the tax bill.

By February 2018: lower tax brackets kick in, and middle income workers will see a bump up on their weekly pay checks. Continue reading “Reality Check: The State And Local Tax Deduction”

Trump notches first big legislative win with tax cut bill — but it’s far from his populist promises

The following article by Noah Bierman and Brian Bennett was posted on the Los Angeles Times website December 20, 2017:

President Donald Trump discusses Congress’ final approval of the tax bill. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

After 11 months in office, President Trump on Wednesday got to celebrate one of the things he’s coveted most — a major legislative achievement — and on his party’s signature issue, tax cuts.

For a president who loves to tally wins and loathes losses, Congress’ final approval of the tax bill hours earlier was an essential capstone to a year in which Trump rolled back scores of regulations, sharply limited a refugee program, seated a conservative Supreme Court justice and opened vast new areas for oil exploration. Continue reading “Trump notches first big legislative win with tax cut bill — but it’s far from his populist promises”

All signs point to a 2018 Democratic wave

The following by Will Drabold is from the Vox.com “Navigating Trump’s America” newsletter:

Good morning from Mic’s Will Drabold. Here is what’s happening today:

  • Why 2018 will be the year of the Democratic Party.
  • Trump will wait until early January to sign the tax bill.
  • A top Senate Democrat called on his colleagues to defend Robert Mueller.
  • Opioids are now killing more people annually than breast cancer.
  • Trump’s agenda today: Nothing public scheduled.

Today’s question: Do you think Democrats will win big in 2018? Please reply to this email with your thoughts.

Today’s dispatch: A wave. Scroll for today’s news.

Thursday’s Dispatch: All signs point to a 2018 Democratic wave

There are still more than 10 months until the midterm elections. With that caveat: Democrats are positioned to make gains in the House, defend several competitive Senate seats and win state level races nationwide.

When Republicans celebrated passage of their tax plan on Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said, “This has been an extraordinary year of accomplishment for the Trump administration.” The tax plan capped of a year of championing deregulation, attacking the Affordable Care Act, appointing conservative judges, restricting immigration to the U.S. and taking a harder line with global partners.

That legacy has earned Trump and Republicans historically low polling numbers heading into 2018.

In the first midterm election for all but two presidents going back to 1946, the president’s party has lost U.S. House seats. Up until President Barack Obama, presidents with an approval rating above 50% at the time of the election lost an average of 14 House seats. Presidents with an approval rating below 50% lost an average of 36 House seats.

Obama’s approval rating was around 43% in 2010 when Republicans gained 63 House seats, the largest change in a midterm election since 1938. And Republicans won 721 state legislative seats in the 2010 election cycle.

Compare the 2010 wave to the polling we see today. Six surveys from this month show voters prefer a Democrat over Republican congress by double digits. In a new CNN poll, 56% of voters say they favor a Democrat in their district to 38% who favor a Republican. That 18-point gap is the largest CNN has seen in 20 years.

The latest polling puts Trump’s approval rating around 37%, according to FiveThirtyEight. It has sat under 40% since May. Both Sabato’s Crystal Ball and Cook Political Report, which have a strong history of accurately predicting congressional elections, show Democrats have the potential to gain at least 20 seats.

A poll released Thursday found backing from Trump, and congressional leaders made voters, on net, less likely to vote for Republican candidates — another poor omen for 2018.

2017 has brought other positive signs for Democrats. Out of 17 special legislative elections where a seat flipped party control, Democrats won 14 of those races. That included victories in districts from Florida to Oklahoma, two states where Trump won decisively.

Exit polling from the Alabama special Senate election found voters evenly approved and disapprove of Trump — in a state he won by nearly 30 points in 2016.

Matched with a congressional approval rating at a dismal 15% average — lower than where it was when Democrats lost the House in 2010 — Republicans have to prepare for an ugly 2018.

But the GOP has built in some protections to their majority since 2010. An Associated Press analysis found gerrymandering has given Republicans 22 more House seats than they should hold. In 2016, Republican congressional candidates won 1% more votes than Democrats — but hold 10% more House seats.

Democrats will need a surge of more than 1% nationwide to overcome that GOP advantage. And the wide Republican lead, along with the fact Democrats must defend incumbent senators in 10 states Trump won, means there is no guarantee a wave means they will take back the House, Senate or state legislatures.

But less than a year out from the elections, Republicans are touting a tax plan that draws support from only a quarter of Americans as their key accomplishment.

Thursday in Trump’s America: 

Tax reform: Trump will wait until early January to sign the Republican tax plan in order to avoid a vote on stopping automatic cuts to Medicare and Social Security this week. By signing the bill in 2018, Trump will give Congress longer to address those automatic cuts — loathed by senators but demanded by some House conservatives.

Large companies said they will give thousands of employees bonuses and raise minimum wages after the passage of the GOP tax plan. Countering that pro-tax reform narrative, Democrats said companies have promised more than $87 billion in stock buybacks to enrich investors since the Senate first passed the tax bill.

Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican, faces blowback in Maine for her “yes” vote on tax reform. We explored how that vote is being received in her state. Also, Collins said Wednesday that health care fixes she demanded in exchange for her vote on tax reform would not be addressed this year.

Shutdown watch: House Republican leaders hope to pass a bill Thursday that will keep the government open until mid-January, fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program through March and send $81 billion in disaster relief to states and territories.

Conservatives are mad that spending won’t be cut. Defense supporters are mad the military is not being funded all year. House Democrats won’t vote for the plan because it doesn’t include their priorities. Senate Democrats may balk at the plan, but at least eight are expected to support it to keep the government open.

None of that means there will be a shutdown. But don’t be surprised if things fall apart.

Opioids: American life expectancy has dropped two years in a row, driven by the opioid crisis; 66% of the 63,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016 involved opioids — more than the number of people who die from breast cancer annually.

Russia investigation: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) urged senators to protect Robert Mueller, saying in a speech on the Senate floor that he fears President Donald Trump is preparing to fire the special counsel.

Sexual misconduct: A total of 59% of Americans believe Trump should resign over sexual misconduct allegations. Do you? Reply to this email with your thoughts.

Race relations: Republicans and Democrats alike believe race relations in America have worsened under Trump.

Virginia: A day after believing they split control of the Virginia House of Delegates, an election was ruled a tie between a Democrat and Republican. That means the election — and control of Virginia’s lower chamber — will be decided by drawing names out of a hat. Yes, really.

Secret dossier work: Several House Republicans have been quietly meeting, Politico reported, to build a case that FBI and Department of Justice officials improperly used a dossier with unverified claims about Trump and Russia in 2016.

DACA deal? It won’t happen this week — but the Senate will pursue a bipartisan vote in January to permanently protect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients, undocumented immigrants who were thrown into limbo when Trump announced in September he would end the program by March.

House Democrats and progressives worry key Democrats in the Senate will not act to protect DACA recipients this year.

Clinton in 2018? Some Democrats want to see her on the campaign trail. Others, not so much. Should Clinton campaign in 2018? Reply to this email with your thoughts.

View the post here.

How tax cuts for the wealthy became Republican orthodoxy

The following article by Vanessa Williamson was posted on the Washington Post website December 21, 2017:

Congressional Republicans on Dec. 20 passed a massive tax overhaul, sending the bill to President Trump for him to sign it into law. (Jenny Starrs, Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

The Republican Congress has passed a tax plan in which more than four-fifths of the long-term tax cuts are steered to the extremely wealthy, and are offset by future tax increases for a significant fraction of the party’s own voting base. Republicans plan substantial cuts to government services that those voters use and like.

This kind of “reverse Robin Hood” upward distribution has become the unifying goal of the Republican Party. The current GOP’s tax plan is the latest iteration of a decades-long rightward trajectory. Continue reading “How tax cuts for the wealthy became Republican orthodoxy”

Trump stands to save millions under new tax measure, experts say

The following article by Drew Harwell was posted on the Washington Post website December 20, 2017:

President Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump, who won the White House on a wave of populist promises, will likely save millions of dollars, thanks to Congress’s approval of a tax plan he pledged was designed for the middle class.

Trump, who said he would be a “big loser” if the bill passed, stands to gain immensely from the Republican tax overhaul, including through a lower top tax rate and lucrative deductions for top-earning households, according to attorneys and tax experts who reviewed the final bill.

Trump could also take advantage of benefits that will lift specific business sectors, including a last-minute tax deduction that helps many owners of high-value commercial real estate, the industry where he first made his fortune. Continue reading “Trump stands to save millions under new tax measure, experts say”

In Tax Overhaul, Trump Tries to Defy the Economic Odds

The following article by Patricia Cohen was posted on the New York Times website December 20, 2017:

A North Carolina plant that recycles plastic bottle chips. President Trump and congressional Republicans have argued that their rewrite of the tax code will create more jobs and raise wages.CreditChuck Burton/Associated Press

When President Trump adds his distinctive signature to the tax bill, he will also be making a huge bet that the Republican strategy of deep cuts for businesses and wealthy individuals will fuel extraordinary growth across the board.

Perhaps more than any other American political leader, Mr. Trump knows that long shots, like his own presidential bid, sometimes pay off. In that vein, he and congressional Republicans are arguing that their bitterly contested and expensive rewrite of the tax code will ultimately create more jobs and raise wages.

If they are proved correct, they will be repudiating not only historical experience, but most experts. From Congress’s own prognosticators to Wall Street’s virtuosos, scarcely any independent analyses project anything like the rosy forecasts offered by the president’s top economic advisers. Continue reading “In Tax Overhaul, Trump Tries to Defy the Economic Odds”

10 key takeaways from the Republican tax bill

The following article by Kim Soffen and Reuben Fischer-Baum was posted on the December 20, 2017:

President Trump is expected to sign a major overhaul of the tax code after the House passed a final iteration of the bill on Wednesday. It is his first major legislative achievement and has significant implications for individuals and businesses across America.

Here are the 10 biggest things to know about the bill: Continue reading “10 key takeaways from the Republican tax bill”

Trump just admitted the GOP’s tax cuts were deceptively sold

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website December 20, 2017:

During a cabinet meeting, President Trump lauded the passing of the GOP tax plan. (Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)

President Trump was so excited about passing his first major piece of legislation Wednesday that he blurted out that the Republican Party had misrepresented the entire bill, handing Democrats some potentially troublesome talking points for the 2018 midterm elections.

Speaking at the White House just before the House prepared to sign off on the tax-cuts bill one last time, Trump reveled extensively in his win before turning things over to Vice President Pence to heap praise upon him continuously for a few minutes. It was a thoroughly unique spectacle, even as victory dances and Trump Cabinet meetings go. Continue reading “Trump just admitted the GOP’s tax cuts were deceptively sold”

How the ‘Small-Business Tax Cut’ Would Also Be a Tax Cut for the Wealthy

The following article by Alicia Parlapiano was posted on the New York Times website December 20, 2017:

Republican lawmakers say that one of the largest tax cuts in their tax bill, a 20 percent deduction for pass-through income, is for small businesses and job creators. But there are also millions of other tax filers — many at the highest income levels — who would benefit significantly.

Pass-through income is business income that is taxed once at the individual rates of the business owner, instead of through the corporate tax structure. Nearly 40 million taxpayers claimed pass-through income on their individual tax returns for 2014. Continue reading “How the ‘Small-Business Tax Cut’ Would Also Be a Tax Cut for the Wealthy”