Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 11-17-17

White House and Political News
Tax Experts: 13.8 M Will Get Higher Taxes With Republicans’ Proposed Plan
Army’s New Policy Makes It Easier For Mentally Ill To Get In
The United States Army is now making it easier for people with some mental health issues to get into the Army.
An unannounced policy was enacted in August making it possible for people with a his- tory of “self-mutilation,” bipo- lar disorder, depression and drug and alcohol abuse to get waivers to join the Army, even as the Army struggles to meet a goal of 80,000 new soldiers through September of next year.
“The decision was primarily due to the increased availabil- ity of medical records and other data which is now more readily available,” Lt. Col. Randy Taylor said in a statement to USA Today. “These records allow Army officials to better document applicant medical histories.”
While some of these disor- ders can be regulated through medication, issues such a self- mutilation can be disruptive to a military unit.
Army
This is not the first time that the Army has lowered its stan- dards in its attempts to try to widen its net to bring in more recruits. Last year, the Army, in an attempt to meet a goal of 69,000 new soldiers, the Army allowed in applicants who scored poorly on aptitude test and allowed more waivers for marijuana use.
The waivers for those with a history of mental health are a reversal of an Obama-era pol- icy, enacted in 2009, that made it harder for mentally ill people to sign up for the Army, amid a wave of suicides in the armed forces.
Promoted as needed relief for the middle class, the Senate Republican tax overhaul actu- ally would increase taxes for some 13.8 million moderate- income American households, a nonpartisan analysis showed Monday.
The U. S. Senate released its version of a proposed tax re- form bill, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act last week. A similar bill was proposed by the U. S. House of Representa- tives one week earlier.
According to Fortune, on the level of individuals, certain provisions seem favorable (such as increasing the stan- dard deduction) while others are clearly unfavorable (such as removing deductions for medical expenses, interest on home equity loans, state and local income taxes, and – at least in the House version – in- terest on student loans).
One could argue that these changes will have the greatest negative impact on those with lower income levels, especially people with disabilities and the elderly, whose medical bills are likely to exceed the current threshold (10% of Adjusted Gross Income for taxpayers under 65 and 7.5% for taxpay- ers over 65), as well as those who have to borrow for educa- tion.
Also, the key changes pro- posed on the corporate side of
The Ways and Means Committee in session on changes to taxes.
the tax reform bills will dispro- portionately favor the privi- leged majority while having a negative impact on several dis- advantaged groups, including women, people with disabili- ties, and members of under- represented minorities.
The assessment by Con- gress' Joint Committee on Tax- ation emerged as the Senate's tax-writing committee began wading through the measure, working toward the first major revamp of the tax system in some 30 years.
Barging into the carefully calibrated work that House and Senate Republicans have done, President Donald Trump called for a steeper tax cut for wealthy Americans and pressed GOP leaders to add a contentious health care change
to the already complex mix. Trump's latest tweet in- jected a dose of uncertainty into the process as the Repub- licans try to deliver on his top
legislative priority.
He is at odds with the
House legislation that leaves the top rate at 39.6 percent and the Senate bill as written, with the top rate at 38.5 percent.
Overall, the legislation would deeply cut corporate taxes, double the standard de- duction used by most Ameri- cans, and limit or repeal completely the federal deduc- tion for state and local prop- erty, income and sales taxes.
With few votes to spare, Re- publican leaders hope to final- ize a tax overhaul by Christmas and send the legislation to Trump for his signature.
DOJ Plans To Investigate Hillary Clinton Deal
On the bubble with the president, Attorney General Jeff Ses- sions is calling for an investigation against Hillary Clinton and possibly Pres. Obama’s administration.
On Monday, the Depart- ment of Justice announced that it would be looking into al- legations that a 2010 decision under the Obama administra- tion to allow a Russian nuclear agency to buy a uranium com- pany was tied to donations to the Clinton Foundation.
The company, Uranium One, owns access to uranium in the United States, and as the deal was made while Hillary Clinton was still secretary of state.
The DOJ’s letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee seemed to be a di- rect response to President Donald Trump calling for the DOJ to investigate Clin- ton and others that he has deemed his political enemies.
“These senior prosecutors will report directly to the attor- ney general and the deputy at-
torney general, as appropriate, and will make recommenda- tions as to whether any matters not currently under investiga- tion should be opened, whether any matters currently under investigation require further resources, or whether any matters merit a special counsel,” Stephen E. Boyd, an assistant attorney general, said in the letter to the House Judiciary Committee.
The timing of the letter is interesting, to say the least, as Attorney General Jeff Ses- sions testified before Con- gress on Tuesday concerning his Russian contacts.
Sessions said Tuesday that politics would play no role in his decision on whether to ap- point a special counsel to probe the Clinton Foundation and an Obama-era uranium deal.
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