Taxes
December 20, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
On Tuesday, the House passed the GOP tax reform bill by a vote of 227-203. Then, around midnight, the Senate passed a very similar bill, 51-48. The Senate voted strictly along party lines, with John McCain unable to participate. The Senate bill differs slightly from the House version because the Senate parliamentarian ruled that three provisions of the House version violate the Senate’s Byrd Rule, which governs what types of
»
December 19, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Sarah Sanders began her press briefing today by ticking off some of President Trump’s achievements in 2017: As December winds down, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to look back at what has been, by any measure, a historic year. Nearly 1.7 million new jobs have been created, and the unemployment rate has fallen to 4.1 percent, the lowest rate in 17 years. The stock market reached a
»
December 18, 2017 — Steven Hayward
The final tax cut bill has emerged from conference committee. Let’s see what the reaction is, first from the Philadelphia Inquirer and then The New Yorker: Judging from these headlines, the tax bill must be fantastic! Though I’ll want to wait to hear from Paul Krugman just to be sure. Thanks, liberals, for saving me so much time. What was that John was saying about liberal hysteria?
»
December 15, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
So reports Jibran Khan at NRO’s Corner. Senators Rubio and Scott have fallen into line, having secured an increase in the child tax credit refund. No surprise there. But here’s a surprise, at least to me. Senator Corker says he will vote for the bill, notwithstanding his concern that it will increase the deficit. He opposed the version initially passed by the Senate due to that concern. Corker called the
»
December 13, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Party leaders in the House and Senate agreed in principle to tax reform legislation that bridges the gaps between their competing versions. The leaders of the tax-writing committees in the House and the Senate — Rep. Kevin Brady and Sen. Orrin Hatch — say the final bill is “close” to completion. The Senate seems to have made out better than the House. The New York Times reports that “more of
»
December 12, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Five European finance ministers have objected to the GOP tax plan on the ground that it is too favorable to the United States: Finance ministers from Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain say they have ‘significant concerns’ about some of the US President’s tax initiatives and fear they could harm the global economy. In a letter to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the ministers said the tax overhaul could risk
»
December 4, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Power Line is pleased to welcome Kurt Eichenwald to its readership, though should I be worried or pleased that our most mild of provocations indicates that he keeps a cardiologist fully and anxiously employed? All it took was a nod to this overwrought tweet to provoke a tantrum: One hardly expects an elite journalist to lose all perspective in the manner of a Hollywood star like Patton Oswalt, who offered
»
December 3, 2017 — Steven Hayward
I was on the road all this past week with a hectic itinerary on both coasts, so I wasn’t paying especially close attention to the news. Did I miss anything? Ah yes—I see Democrats are in a rage that Republicans have taken Nancy Pelosi’s advice to pass a bill to find out what is in it with the tax reform bill. They’re acting as though Republicans, in wheeling and dealing
»
December 1, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Senate Republicans have locked down the votes they need to pass their tax bill. The necessary votes were secured when Sens. Jeff Flake, Ron Johnson, and Susan Collins announced their support. Reportedly, only Sen. Bob Corker is a “no.” This means there are 51 votes for the measure. Mike Pence won’t have to break a tie. It’s important to remember that this tax bill is tax reform, not a tax
»
November 30, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Politico Money’s Ben White interviewed Larry Kudlow this week for the podcast embedded below. White noted the interview yesterday in his Morning Money column. In the interview they discussed Kudlow’s role in shaping the Trump tax plan and the wayward course it has taken on the individual side. It is a wide-ranging interview; White also asked Kudlow to recount his struggle to overcome cocaine and alcohol addictions in the early
»
November 17, 2017 — John Hinderaker
In the 1980s, the Democrats reviled President Reagan’s tax cuts as “trickle-down economics”–a phrase they themselves had invented many years before. But the Reagan tax cuts produced the greatest boom in America’s modern history. The results were so sensational that Reagan carried 49 states when he ran for re-election in 1984. That shut the Democrats up for a while, but bad ideas never go away forever. The Democrats are now
»
November 8, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The mainstream media almost never mentions the Congressional Budget Office without adding the adjective “non-partisan.” But the CBO is staffed by folks who, in real life, are probably partisan. And given the pool from which its staff is drawn, most very likely are partisan Democrats. Are its findings infected by partisan bias? I don’t know. But something funny is going on with the CBO’s assessment of the impact of repealing
»
November 4, 2017 — John Hinderaker
That’s what Kevin Drum says at Mother Jones. Leftists are up in arms at the idea of taking away the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes and capping the home interest deduction at $500,000. Drum points out that this will hurt residents of blue states: The Republican tax plan caps the mortgage interest deduction at $500,000. The Washington Post today has a lovely chart showing which states this
»
October 20, 2017 — Scott Johnson
I missed the town hall debate on tax reform held earlier this week in Washington between Senators Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz. Hosted by CNN, the debate may have been missed by many Power Line readers. The Daily Wire’s Robert Kraychik draws attention to one of the highlights with the question put to Sanders by Cruz: “What is the difference between a socialist and a Democrat on taxes?” The question
»
September 27, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Today President Trump and Congressional Republican leaders released a “framework” for tax reform, which you can read here. The framework is more an outline than a plan; while its principles are generally good, a lot depends on how Congressional committees fill in the details. And then, of course, it remains to be seen what will actually get through Congress. So far, leadership’s track record is not encouraging. Here are some
»
September 22, 2017 — Scott Johnson
I think Ammo Grrrll is observing the second day of Rosh Hashanah today, but she filed this one before sundown on Wednesday. You are therefore empowered to profit from EAT THE RICH! She writes: Remember when Rachel Maddow had the big scoop of “somehow” getting hold of one of President Trump’s tax returns? Never mind that every way of getting such a thing involved illegality. It was supposed to be
»
September 16, 2017 — John Hinderaker
The Associated Press is one of many “news” outlets that has gone into overt opposition, now that we have a Republican rather than a Democrat in the White House. Today’s AP “Top News” feature is headlined: Doubts arise on whether corporate tax cut would boost growth. The passive voice is generally a giveaway. Where, exactly, are doubts “arising”? Trump insists that slashing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to
»
