Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 7 November 2017
Lawmakers at odds over whether tax bill helps middle class

By MARCY GORDON this bill,” proclaimed Dem- which would benefit a tiny
ERICA WERNER ocratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of percentage of the wealthi-
Associated Press New Jersey. “This is a joke est families in the country. It
WASHINGTON (AP) — and you’ve got to face up also simplifies the loophole-
House Republicans and to it.” ridden tax code by col-
Democrats bickered heat- At stake is whether the GOP lapsing today’s seven per-
edly Monday over whether will succeed in passing the sonal income tax brackets
the GOP tax bill truly helps most sweeping rewrite of into four, nearly doubles
the middle class, as the the tax code in decades, the standard deduction
Ways and Means Commit- which would be a major used by people who don’t
tee kicked off a marathon achievement for congres- itemize, and increases the
session to amend and vote sional Republicans and child tax credit, an ele-
on the far-reaching leg- Trump after a year largely ment championed by first
islation President Donald devoid of legislative wins. daughter Ivanka Trump.
Trump hopes to sign into And looking ahead to 2018 The nonpartisan Tax Policy
law by year’s end. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R- midterms where Demo- Center on Monday found
Texas, begins the markup process of the GOP’s far-reaching tax
Republicans focused on overhaul as members propose amendments and changes to crats will aim to wrest back that under the bill, 12 per-
findings by Congress’ non- shape the first major revamp of the tax system in three decades, control of the House from cent of people would face
partisan Joint Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Nov. 6, 2017. the GOP, each side is trying tax increases next year,
on Taxation that the bill (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) to win the political debate growing to 28 percent by
would lower taxes across that are living paycheck to ginning in 2023 for some 38 over who is truly looking out 2027 after some of the
all income levels over the paycheck,” said GOP Rep. million taxpayers or families for middle-class Americans. measure’s tax reductions
next several years. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota. making $20,000 to $40,000 The legislation adds $1.5 have expired.
“Clearly this is helping real Democrats returned re- a year. trillion to the ballooning na- It said there would be an
people. It’s helping teach- peatedly to a section of “There are a lot of people tional debt, delivers a ma- average overall tax cut of
ers, it’s helping students, it’s the analysis showing taxes expecting a tax cut who jor tax cut to corporations, $1,100 next year, falling to
helping struggling families would actually go up be- would be big losers under and repeals the estate tax, $700 by 2027. q
Judge not ready to remove ex-Trump aides from house arrest

By ERIC TUCKER so until receiving more de- package that would guar- take them off home deten- home confinement, a con-
Associated Press tailed financial information antee their appearance at tion until additional details dition imposed last week
WASHINGTON (AP) — A from them. future court dates while al- about their personal wealth following their indictment.
federal judge said Monday Lawyers for Paul Manafort, lowing them to be released are disclosed, along with a Jackson did indicate that
that she was inclined to who led Trump’s campaign from home confinement. more specific commitment she was leaning in favor of
remove from house arrest for several months last year, But the lawyers said they to forfeit millions of dollars in easing that condition once
two former aides to Presi- and his business associate had not made final ar- assets if they fail to show up more information is submit-
dent Donald Trump’s cam- Rick Gates said in court that rangements yet, and U.S. for future court dates. ted, but she also said she
paign now facing criminal they were still working with District Judge Amy Ber- That means the men re- was likely to impose cer-
charges but would not do prosecutors on a financial man Jackson declined to main at least for now on tain restrictions, such as a
bar on international travel
or on being in the vicinity of
airports and other transpor-
tation facilities.Manafort
and Gates surrendered
last week to the FBI to face
criminal charges brought
by special counsel Rob-
ert Mueller and his team
of prosecutors, who are
investigating potential co-
ordination between Trump
campaign aides and Rus-
sia.
The men are accused of
laundering the profits of
foreign consulting work
performed on behalf of
a Ukrainian political party
and concealing those as-
sets from the U.S. govern-
ment. They have pleaded
not guilty and were placed
on home confinement with
GPS monitoring.The men
entered the courtroom
separately with their law-
yers and did not speak
during Monday’s bond
hearing, though Gates
at one point quietly con-
ferred with his lawyer after
a judge asked about his
consulting practice. q