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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Nov. 02, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 116 ~ 25 of 44
“Failure is not an option,” said Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y.
The emerging plan would retain the Clinton-era 39.6 percent income tax rate for the wealthiest earn- ers. But for that highest bracket, the tax writers were considering raising the minimum level of income to $1 million for couples or families from the current $470,000 — a change that would reduce tax revenue.
Trump weighed in Wednesday on Twitter: “Wouldn’t it be great to Repeal the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate in ObamaCare and use those savings for further Tax Cuts for the Middle Class. The House and Senate should consider ASAP as the process of nal approval moves along. Push Biggest Tax Cuts EVER.”
The idea of repealing the individual mandate has been pushed by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkan- sas, but was dismissed by key GOP leaders since it would add political complications to an already dif cult task of crafting a tax bill that can pass the House and Senate.
“I think tax reform is complicated enough without adding another layer of complexity,” said No. 2 Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., a participant in the talks as a member of the tax-writing panel, said there was insuf cient support among committee Republicans to include it in the bill.
GOP leaders still struggled to win over lawmakers from New York and New Jersey, many of whom are opposed to repealing a lucrative deduction for state and local taxes that bene ts their states more than others.
A potential compromise involved a $10,000 cap to the deduction for local property taxes while repealing the deduction for income taxes.
“I view the elimination of the deduction as a geographic redistribution of wealth, picking winners and losers,” said Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., who represents eastern Long Island. “I don’t want my home state to be a loser, and that really shouldn’t come as any surprise.”
The plan outline released last month by Trump and Republican leaders called for shrinking the number of tax brackets from seven to three or four, with respective tax rates of 12 percent, 25 percent, 35 percent and a category still to be determined. The tax system would be simpli ed, and most people would be able to le their returns on a postcard-sized form.
The plan calls for nearly doubling the standard deduction used by most average Americans to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for families, and increasing the per-child tax credit. In addition to slashing the corporate tax rate, it also seeks to repeal inheritance taxes on multimillion-dollar estates, a big break for the wealthy.
Meadows, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said he was worried about eligibility limits that could prevent some businesses from taking advantage of a lower 25 percent tax rate.
“How as a Republican can we pick winners and losers that way? I mean it makes absolutely, certi ably no sense,” Meadows said.
Trump set an aggressive timetable for the legislation and predicted a grand signing ceremony before Christmas at “the biggest tax event in the history of our country.”
Democrats have repeatedly complained the plan was too favorable to business and the wealthy, and contradicted Trump’s rhetoric of bringing tax relief and economic bene t to the stressed middle class.
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Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report.
Under pressure, social media giants acknowledge meddling By MARY CLARE JALONICK and ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — In three exhaustive hearings this week, executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google acknowledged that their platforms were used by Russia to try and create division over such dis- parate issues as immigration, gun control and politics. House investigators released a trove of Facebook and Twitter ads that showed just how extraordinary the cyber intrusion was.
The companies’ admissions and disclosures gave congressional investigators one of their rst real wins in the Russia probes. They have been frustrated by delays — and overshadowed by special counsel Rob-