Tag: GOP congress

The Republican tax plan is still more talk than action

The following article by Lisa Mascaro and Jim Puzzanghera was posted on the Los Angeles Times website September 21, 2017:

President Trump meets at the White House with a bipartisan group of lawmakers about tax reform. (Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

They have a blueprint and principles. They’ve held countless strategy sessions for what could be the biggest tax overhaul in decades.

They even produced a handy desk calendar with daily inspirational messages and helpful tax statistics to drive home the need for reform.

All Republicans need now is an actual plan.

Despite months of promises and what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calls a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” the GOP-led Congress and White House have yet to agree on how to revamp the tax code, including how much to reduce corporate and individual tax rates, how tax cuts would be paid for or whether they will be offset at all. Continue reading “The Republican tax plan is still more talk than action”

Graham-Cassidy ACA Repeal Bill Would Cause Huge Premium Increases for People with Pre-Existing Conditions

The following article by Sam Berger and Emily Gee was posted on the Center for American Progress website September 18, 2017:

From left, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) hold a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 13, 2017, to unveil legislation to reform health care. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

With only two weeks left to move forward with a partisan health care repeal bill, some Senate Republicans are trying one last time to rip coverage from millions of Americans. Their latest effort, introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), would make devastating cuts to Medicaid and cut and eventually eliminate funding that helps people in the individual insurance market afford coverage, leading to at least 32 million fewer people having coverage after 2026.

Those who did not lose coverage would see their premiums increase significantly. In the first year, premiums would increase by 20 percent. But the increases would be even greater for people with pre-existing conditions because the bill would let insurers in the individual market charge a premium markup based on health status and history, which could increase their premiums by tens of thousands of dollars.

Huge premium markups for pre-existing conditions

As with a previous Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal bill in the House, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), Graham-Cassidy would allow states to eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions. And just as with that previous proposal, this would increase premiums for people with certain health conditions by tens of thousands of dollars. Continue reading “Graham-Cassidy ACA Repeal Bill Would Cause Huge Premium Increases for People with Pre-Existing Conditions”

The GOP Is Plowing Ahead with an Audacious Effort to Hijack the Vote and Rig Elections

The following article by Steven Rosenfeld was posted on the AlterNet website September 15, 2017:

From Trump’s “election integrity” commission to Mitch McConnell, the GOP targets the levers of power.

Credit: facebook

The Republican Party’s efforts to disrupt voting and thwart representative government was on full display this past week, when despite ridicule in the press, the GOP’s leading proponents of undermining voters and rigging elections were unbowed and forged ahead.

First came Kris Kobach’s willfully incorrect—but headline-grabbing—accusation on Breitbart.com that more than 5,000 people illegally voted last fall in New Hampshire, delivering an Electoral College majority to Hillary Clinton and a U.S. senate seat to a Democrat. Kobach, an attorney whose anti-immigrant activism launched his career, is the Kansas secretary of state, a current gubernatorial candidate, and co-chair of President Trump’s Orwellian-titled “election integrity” commission. Kobach was caught mangling some Republican-produced data about New Hampshire college students who were perfectly legal voters to make his false claim about presumed Democrats voting illegally. Continue reading “The GOP Is Plowing Ahead with an Audacious Effort to Hijack the Vote and Rig Elections”

To make their tax plan work, Republicans eye a favorite blue-state break

The following article by Michael DeBonis was posted on the Washington Post website September 16, 2017:

President Trump pauses during a meeting with congressional leaders and administration officials on tax reform in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Sept. 5, 2017. From left, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas). (Evan Vucci/AP)

As long as there has been a federal income tax, taxpayers have been able to deduct most of the state and local taxes they pay from earnings subject to Uncle Sam’s grasp. But that deduction — especially popular in states rich in Democratic voters — could disappear as soon as next year if President Trump and congressional Republicans succeed in their promised rewrite of the tax code.

The state and local tax deduction, or SALT, has long been a target for tax-policy wonks who see it as an unwise federal subsidy that is mainly claimed by the wealthy. But politics have always intervened: Thanks to the opposition of lawmakers in high-tax states, the deduction has survived every effort to clear out loopholes, including the last federal tax overhaul of similar ambition in 1986.

Now, Republican leaders have made clear the SALT deduction is on the table, and it has shaken up a number of blue-state GOP legislators who are warning that it could derail the ambitious tax plan Trump is now pushing. Continue reading “To make their tax plan work, Republicans eye a favorite blue-state break”

Democrats Vow to Fight Republican Tax Provisions that Aid Rich

The following article by Alan Rappaport and Thomas Kaplan was posted on the New York Times website September 12, 2017:

Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, walked through the Capitol on Tuesday for a meeting with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky. Credit Al Drago,The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday warned they would work to block any rewrite of the tax code that repealed the estate tax and the deduction for state and local taxes, arguing that those moves would make a mockery of Republican promises to target tax relief to the middle class.

But before Republicans could consider Democratic demands, they still were struggling to overcome their own disagreements over the arcana of a rewritten tax code.

The clash over specific tax measures comes as the promised tax overhaul enters a pivotal phase. The White House and congressional Republicans expect to unveil the framework of a plan later this month, and the courting of Democrats has already begun. Mr. Trump dined with senators from both parties Tuesday night, reaching across the aisle out of concern that Republican disputes will make it impossible to pass a tax bill with only Republican votes. Continue reading “Democrats Vow to Fight Republican Tax Provisions that Aid Rich”

Congress gives Trump a pass on releasing his tax returns

The following editorial by the Washington Post’s Editorial Board was posted on their website September 9, 2017:

Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo

IT’S UNDERSTANDABLE why Donald Trump has felt no compunction about refusing to release his tax returns. After all, he got elected president despite breaking his promise to release his IRS filings, thus thumbing his nose at a tradition that had been followed by every major-party candidate for four decades. Keeping the information under wraps also appears to be an effective way of stymieing questions about whether there are potential conflicts of interest posed by his private business empire. What doesn’t make sense is that Congress lets him get away with this, particularly since it soon will be debating an overhaul of tax policy. Shouldn’t elected representatives know how President Trump might benefit and what interests are really being served?

Unfortunately but predictably, an effort that would have forced release of Mr. Trump’s tax information was shut down last week by House Republicans. In a party-line vote Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee rejected a resolution that would have directed the Treasury Department to turn over the tax returns of Mr. Trump and his many businesses. A law enacted in 1924 after the Teapot Dome scandal allows the Way and Means Committee, along with the Senate Committee on Finance and the Joint Committee on Taxation, to request tax information for review in a closed session with possible public disclosure. Continue reading “Congress gives Trump a pass on releasing his tax returns”

For Conservatives, Trump’s Deal With Democrats Is Nightmare Come True

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

Supporters of President Trump at a rally last month in Laguna Beach, Calif. Credit David McNew/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — It is the scenario that President Trump’s most conservative followers considered their worst nightmare, and on Wednesday it seemed to come true: The dealmaking political novice, whose ideology and loyalty were always fungible, cut a deal with Democrats.

If Mr. Trump’s agreement with the two Democratic leaders, Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Nancy Pelosi, to increase the debt limit and finance the government for three months did not yet represent the breaking point between the president and his core, hard-right base of support, it certainly put him closer than he has ever been to tipping his fragile political coalition into open revolt.

Stunned and irate, conservative leaders denounced news that Mr. Trump had agreed to rely on Democratic votes to win congressional approval for a temporary extension of the debt ceiling and funding of the government until mid-December. Continue reading “For Conservatives, Trump’s Deal With Democrats Is Nightmare Come True”

GOP leaders prevent votes to ban federal spending at Trump businesses

The following article by Cristina Marcos was posted on the Hill website September 6, 2017:

Credit: Greg Nash

House GOP leaders won’t be allowing votes this week on Democratic proposals to prevent taxpayer funds from benefiting businesses owned by President Trump.

Multiple Democrats had filed amendments to a government spending package set to be considered on the House floor this week to ensure the president is not personally enriched by the federal government.

Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who are among the fiercest critics of the president, proposed measures to prohibit federal funds from being used to enter contracts with or spend money at Trump-owned businesses.

Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, also submitted an amendment prohibiting the Secret Service from spending money at entities owned or operated by Trump. Continue reading “GOP leaders prevent votes to ban federal spending at Trump businesses”

Trump’s border wall brinkmanship may leave Republicans in Congress holding the bag

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website August 25, 2017:

THE BIG IDEA: Donald Trump is doing more damage to the public image of congressional Republican leaders than any Democratic operative could in their wildest dreams.

The president’s threat to shut down the federal government if Congress does not pony up $1.6 billion for a border wall could further corrode his relationship with Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. It might also cause additional damage to the Senate majority leader and House speaker’s standing with the Republican base. Continue reading “Trump’s border wall brinkmanship may leave Republicans in Congress holding the bag”

Trump distances himself from GOP lawmakers to avoid blame if agenda stalls

The following article by Philip Rucker, Sean Sullivan and Mike DeBonis was posted on the Washington Post website August 24, 2017:

The Fix’s Amber Phillips explains the tight deadlines Congress faces this fall, and how President Trump’s shutdown threat over funding his border wall and his criticism of the debt ceiling “mess” threaten their agenda.(Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump is strategically separating himself from Republicans in Congress, an extraordinary move to deflect blame if the GOP agenda continues to flounder.

Trump deepened the fissures in the party on Thursday when he accused the top two leaders on Capitol Hill of mismanaging a looming showdown over the nation’s borrowing authority. Republican lawmakers and aides responded to the president’s hostility with broadsides and warnings of their own. Continue reading “Trump distances himself from GOP lawmakers to avoid blame if agenda stalls”