Tag: Trump Administration

Trump ditches tax reform plan he campaigned on and considers series of new options – including payroll tax cut in bid to woo Democrats

The following article was posted on the Daily Mail website April 10, 2017:

  • Trump had campaigned on rapid tax reform and a so-called border adjustment tax, which would effectively levy a duty on imports 
  • Now all options are back on the table as he tries to have a reform plan which will get Republican support 
  • There are signs the president will be willing to work with Democrats too as White House officials hold ‘listening sessions’ with the opposition 
  • One plan being considered is a cut in the payroll tax, which would benefit middle-earners and could garner Democratic support 
Tough deadline: Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary who was at the table when Trump was briefed on the Syria missile strikes, had set an the August deadline for tax reform SEAN SPICER

President Donald Trump has scrapped the tax plan he campaigned on and is going back to the drawing board in a search for Republican consensus behind legislation to overhaul the U.S. tax system.

The administration’s first attempt to write legislation is in its early stages and the White House has kept much of it under wraps. But it has already sprouted the consideration of a series of unorthodox proposals including a drastic cut to the payroll tax, aimed at appealing to Democrats.

Some view the search for new options as a result of Trump’s refusal to set clear parameters for his plan and his exceedingly challenging endgame: reducing tax rates enough to spur faster growth without blowing up the budget deficit. Continue reading “Trump ditches tax reform plan he campaigned on and considers series of new options – including payroll tax cut in bid to woo Democrats”

Trump University: A Look at an Enduring Education Scandal

The following article by Ulrich Boser, Danny Schwaber and Stephanie Johnson was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 30, 2017:

When Donald Trump first launched Trump University in 2005, he said that the program’s aim was altruistic. Coming off his success as a reality television show host, Trump claimed that the Trump University program was devoted to helping people gain real estate skills and knowledge. At the Trump University launch event, Trump told reporters that he hoped to create a “legacy as an educator” by “imparting lots of knowledge” through his program.1

Today, it’s clear that Trump University was far from charitable. In fact, Trump University’s real estate seminars often didn’t provide that much education; at some seminars, it seemed like the instructors aimed to do little more than bilk money from people who dreamed of successful real estate careers. As one person who attended the program wrote on a feedback form examined by the authors, “Requesting we raise our credit limits on our credit cards at lunch Friday seemed a little transparent.”2 Continue reading “Trump University: A Look at an Enduring Education Scandal”

Fact-checking the Trumpian spin on ‘surveillance of Trump’

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website April 4, 2017:

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post

The Trump White House is determined to turn questions about Russian efforts to sway the presidential election into a probe about whether the Obama administration improperly spied on Trump campaign officials. This line of attack is consistent with President Trump’s March 4 tweets falsely claiming that President Barack Obama tapped his phones at the Trump Tower during the election.

On April 3, Trump seized on a three-day-old report recycled on Fox News — that a “very senior” intelligence official “unmasked,” or exposed, the names of people affiliated with the Trump team — to insist that should be the real focus on the Russia probe. This is entirely different from Trump’s original claim about phone taps during the election, but the White House often acts as if it is similar. Continue reading “Fact-checking the Trumpian spin on ‘surveillance of Trump’”

Trump’s Authoritarian Vision

The following commentary by the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board was posted on their website April 4, 2017:

Standing before the cheering throngs at the Republican National Convention last summer, Donald Trump bemoaned how special interests had rigged the country’s politics and its economy, leaving Americans victimized by unfair trade deals, incompetent bureaucrats and spineless leaders.

He swooped into politics, he declared, to subvert the powerful and rescue those who cannot defend themselves. “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” Continue reading “Trump’s Authoritarian Vision”

The right’s jarring drift toward Russia

The following column by E.J. Dionne, Jr., was posted on the Washington Post website April 2, 2017:

(Don Emmert/Agence France-Presse; Natalia Kolesnikova/Getty Images)

It is jarring to see pro-Trump conservatives indifferent or even hostile to investigations of Russian intervention in the 2016 campaign. Just a few years ago (it feels like an eternity), conservatives were jumping all over President Barack Obama for his Russian “reset” and his first-term eagerness to negotiate with Moscow.

Even further back, conservatives hailed President Ronald Reagan’s description of the Soviet Union as “an evil empire.” Reagan ran a brilliant ad during his 1984 reelection bid that showed a bear roaming through the woods. Without mentioning the words “Russia” or “Soviet Union,” an announcer intoned: Continue reading “The right’s jarring drift toward Russia”

What Happens To A Country Whose Leader Can’t Say ‘I’m Sorry’

The following article by Arty Kaplan was posted on the AlterNet website March 31, 2017:

“I blame myself—it was my fault, and I take full responsibility for it,” Donald Trump never said, not once in his entire life.

Here’s what else the president didn’t say about the rout and ruin of repeal and replace: “I was clueless about health care policy. Instead of reading my briefing books or even my own bill, I played golf. I bullshitted my way through every meeting and phone call. And when it was explained to me that this dumpster fire of a bill would break my promise that everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they are now, which was a huge applause line by the way, I threw my own voters under the bus.” Continue reading “What Happens To A Country Whose Leader Can’t Say ‘I’m Sorry’”

The Trump White House is in deep legal trouble, according to Trump’s own standards

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website March 31, 2017:

President Trump on Friday urged his former top adviser, Michael Flynn, to seek an immunity deal from Congress, after news broke late Thursday that Flynn was seeking such a deal. Trump said Flynn should cut a deal because the entire thing is “a witch hunt” that ostensibly won’t lead anywhere. Continue reading “The Trump White House is in deep legal trouble, according to Trump’s own standards”

People Don’t Want To Come To Trump’s America: The ‘Trump Slump’ In Travel Is Costing America Billions

The following article by Kali Holloway was posted on the AlternNet website March 29, 2017:

This is where all that nationalist nuttery gets you.

Well, that didn’t take long. People around the world have taken a look at Donald Trump and decided his America is not a place they want to visit. The result has been labeled the “Trump Slump,” a drop in international tourism that’s predicted to cost the United States more than $7 billion. Experts across the travel industry have sounded the alarm that the Trump presidency, already destructive on so many fronts, may also do serious financial damage to the country’s $250 billion tourism sector. Continue reading “People Don’t Want To Come To Trump’s America: The ‘Trump Slump’ In Travel Is Costing America Billions”

Doublespeak and the National Debt

The following article by Ryan Erickson and Kevin DeGood was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 30, 2017:

AP/Cliff Owen
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster takes his seat on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 2, 2015.

On March 9, 2017, Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) dropped by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment to cheer on its work in setting the legislative priorities related to the country’s water infrastructure: ports, canals, and more. In remarks noting the urgency of needed repairs to water infrastructure, Shuster referenced President Donald Trump’s pledge to make $1 trillion in infrastructure investments. Shuster said, “Look, a trillion dollars is not going to come from the federal government.”

It was a short statement at a subcommittee hearing that usually would not result in attention-grabbing headlines. But, despite the modest setting, the statement was telling. Continue reading “Doublespeak and the National Debt”

China Poised to Take Lead on Climate After Trump’s Move to Undo Policies

The following article by Edward Wong was posted on the New York Times website March 29, 2017:

Burning coal at an unauthorized steel factory in Inner Mongolia in November. China consumes as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Credit Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

For years, the Obama administration prodded, cajoled and beseeched China to make commitments to limit the use of fossil fuels to try to slow the global effects of climate change.

President Obama and other American officials saw the pledges from both Beijing and Washington as crucial: China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, followed by the United States.

In the coming years, the opposite dynamic is poised to play out. President Trump’s signing of an executive order on Tuesday aimed at undoing many of the Obama administration’s climate change policies flips the roles of the two powers. Continue reading “China Poised to Take Lead on Climate After Trump’s Move to Undo Policies”