Tag: Trump Administration

Trump Pushes Massive Tax Cut for Multimillionaires over Child Care for Working Families

The following article by Katie Hamm was posted on the Center for American Progress website October 19, 2017:

Pre-K students line up outside a classroom in San Antonio, April 2014. Credit: AP/Eric Gay

The White House recently released a tax reform proposal that would repeal the estate tax, among other provisions. Repealing the estate tax would result in $240 billion in tax cutsfor millionaires over the next 10 years. Only those with estates valued at more than $5.5 million for an individual and $11 million for a couple are subject to the estate tax. These estates represent the wealthiest 0.2 percent of Americans. In fact, President Donald Trump’s children could see a $1 billion tax windfall from this provision.

During his campaign, President Trump said that he would make child care more affordable for low-income and middle-class families. He could make good on that promise by prioritizing child care assistance over tax breaks for millionaires. Continue reading “Trump Pushes Massive Tax Cut for Multimillionaires over Child Care for Working Families”

CIA director distorts intelligence community’s findings on Russian interference

The following article by Greg Miller was posted on the Washington Post website October 19, 2017:

CIA Director Mike Pompeo appeared at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies national security summit in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 19, 2017. (REUTERS/YURI GRIPAS) (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)

CIA Director Mike Pompeo declared Thursday that U.S. intelligence agencies determined that Russia’s interference in the 2016 American presidential election did not alter the outcome, a statement that distorted spy agency findings.

“The intelligence community’s assessment is that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election,” Pompeo said at a security conference in Washington.

His comment suggested — falsely — that a report released by U.S. intelligence agencies in January had ruled out any impact that could be attributed to a covert Russian interference campaign that involved leaks of tens of thousands of stolen emails, the flooding of social media sites with false claims and the purchase of ads on Facebook. Continue reading “CIA director distorts intelligence community’s findings on Russian interference”

ACA enrollment schedule may lock millions into unwanted health plans

The following article by Amy Goldstein was posted on the Washington Post website October 20, 2017:

Millions of Americans with insurance through the Affordable Care Act could find themselves locked into health plans they do not want for the coming year because of the Trump administration’s schedule for the enrollment season that starts in less than two weeks.

The complication arises when people who already have health plans under the law are automatically re-enrolled in the same plan. In the past, a few million consumers each year have been auto-enrolled and then were sent government notices encouraging them to check whether they could find better or more affordable coverage.

This time, according to a federal document obtained by The Washington Post, the automatic enrollment will take place after it is too late to make any changes. Auto-enrollment will occur immediately after the last day of the ACA sign-up season, which the Trump administration has shortened, leaving the vast majority of such consumers stranded without any way to switch to a plan they might prefer. Continue reading “ACA enrollment schedule may lock millions into unwanted health plans”

Poll: Most Americans Disapprove of Trump’s Subsidy Slash

The following article by Griffin Connolly was posted on the Roll Call website October 18, 2017:

Two senators reached bipartisan deal Tuesday to fund cost-reducing subsidies

Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., reached an agreement Tuesday to fund cost-sharing reduction payments the president axed from the executive schedule last week. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Most Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s decision to end Obama-era federal subsidies to insurers that lower costs for low- and middle-income families, a new poll found.

Fifty-three percent of respondents to an Economist/YouGov poll conducted Oct. 15 and 16 said they disapproved of the executive move, compared to 31 percent who were in favor. Sixteen percent declined to give an opinion.

Publicly, the administration claimed it was closing the executive payment schedule because it was unconstitutional. It is also part of a broader effort to completely roll back the 2010 health care law, a GOP promise seven years in the making. Continue reading “Poll: Most Americans Disapprove of Trump’s Subsidy Slash”

Second judge rules against latest entry ban, saying Trump’s own words show it was aimed at Muslims

The following article by Matt Zapotosky was posted on the Washington Post website October 18, 2017:

A judge on Oct. 17 blocked President Trump’s latest bid to impose restrictions on citizens from several countries from entering the United States. (Reuters)

A federal judge in Maryland early Wednesday issued a second halt on the latest version of President Trump’s entry ban, asserting that the president’s own comments on the campaign trail and on Twitter convinced him that the directive was akin to an unconstitutional ban on Muslims.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang issued a somewhat-less-complete halt on the ban than his counterpart in Hawaii did a day earlier. Chuang blocked the administration only from enforcing the directive on those with a “bona fide” relationship with a person or entity in the United States, such as family members or some type of professional or other engagement in the United States. Continue reading “Second judge rules against latest entry ban, saying Trump’s own words show it was aimed at Muslims”

Watch: Sessions won’t say if he’ll jail journalists

The following article from the Associated Press was posted on the MPR website October 18, 2017:

Democratic Sen. Al Franken is accusing Attorney General Jeff Sessions of “moving the goalposts” in denying his interactions with the Russian ambassador.

In a testy exchange, Franken confronted Sessions about his testimony in January, in which he said he had no communications with Russians. Sessions later had to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump campaign ties to Russia after it was revealed he had conversations with the ambassador. Franken says his explanations of those interactions continue to change.

But Sessions, visibly frustrated and voice rising, called Franken’s line of questioning unfair. He says he answered the question as a surrogate of the Trump campaign. Sessions says he may have discussed Trump’s campaign positions with the ambassador but insists he did not have a continuing exchange of information with him. Continue reading “Watch: Sessions won’t say if he’ll jail journalists”

President Trump’s false claim that insurance companies ‘have made a fortune’ from Obamacare

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website October 19, 2017:

The president misleadingly correlates insurance company’s rising stock prices to profits related to Obamacare, but they are not one in the same. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“We want the money to go to the people. We don’t want the money to go into the pockets. I have a list here where it talks about the insurance companies. … Anthem, big company, from the beginning of Obamacare, 270 percent increase in their stock price. Humana, 420 percent up. Aetna, 470 percent increase from Obamacare. Cigna, 480 percent increase since Obamacare. The insurance companies have absolutely taken advantage of this country and our people. And I stopped it by stopping the CSRs.”
— President Trump, responding to a question from Mike Sacks of E.W. Scripps, Oct. 17, 2017 Continue reading “President Trump’s false claim that insurance companies ‘have made a fortune’ from Obamacare”

Interior Department worked behind the scenes with energy industry to reverse royalties rule

The following article by Juliet Eilperin was posted on the Washington Post website October 6, 2017:

President Trump and many of his top aides have expressed skepticism about climate change, while others say human activity is to blame for global warming. So what’s the administration’s real position? (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

Top Interior Department officials worked privately with energy industry representatives during the first weeks of the Trump administration to suspend a new accounting system that would have forced companies to pay millions of dollars more in royalties to the government, documents show.

The push to suspend the Obama-era rule, which is the subject of three federal lawsuits in Wyoming, took on a sense of urgency after an attorney for the coal company Cloud Peak Energy first suggested the move in late January. In email exchanges contained in more than 1,000 pages, obtained by the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council under the Freedom of Information Act, top Interior officials raced to address industry concerns by halting a system that had just taken effect on Jan. 1. Continue reading “Interior Department worked behind the scenes with energy industry to reverse royalties rule”

Federal judge blocks Trump’s third travel ban

The following article by Matt Zapotosky was posted on the Washington Post  website October 17, 2017:

Passengers come and go around airport gates at San Francisco International Airport. (John G. Mabanglo/EPA-EFE)

A federal judge on Tuesday largely blocked the Trump administration from implementing the latest version of the president’s controversial travel ban, setting up yet another legal showdown on the extent of the executive branch’s powers when it comes to setting immigration policy.

The decision from Judge Derrick K. Watson in Hawaii is sure to be appealed, but for now, it means that the administration cannot restrict the entry of travelers from six of the eight countries that officials said were either unable or unwilling to provide information that the United States wanted to vet their citizens.

The latest ban was set to fully go into effect in the early morning hours of Wednesday, barring various types of travelers from Syria, Libya, Iran, Yemen, Chad, Somalia, North Korea and Venezuela. Watson’s order stops it, at least temporarily, with respect to all the countries except North Korea and Venezuela. Continue reading “Federal judge blocks Trump’s third travel ban”

The White House Says It Doesn’t Keep A List Of Mar-a-Lago Visitors. Experts And Visitors Are Skeptical.

The following article by Leora Smith Derek Kravitz was posted on the ProPublica website October 16, 2017:

Credit: Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

Seven members and guests of Mar-a-Lago say the U.S. Secret Service checks names of visitors.

Last month, the Trump administration said it could not comply with a court order to disclose the names of people who met with the president at Mar-a-Lago in part because they do “not maintain any system for keeping track” of them.

Continue reading “The White House Says It Doesn’t Keep A List Of Mar-a-Lago Visitors. Experts And Visitors Are Skeptical.”