“The backlash to the Republican tax agenda is already getting Democrats elected — in Oklahoma. On Tuesday night, 26-year-old mental-health counselor Allison Ikley-Freeman won election to the Sooner State’s Senate, in a district that backed Donald Trump by 40 points last November. Ikley-Freeman did not win on the strength of her fundraising or political experience. She boasted little of the former and none of the latter. But like the three other Oklahoma Democrats who have evicted Republicans from state-house seats this year, Ikley-Freeman enjoyed one decisive advantage: She bore no responsibility for the regressive tax policies that had left the state in fiscal ruin.” More …
Taxes
Reagan Adviser: GOP Tax Cuts Set Stage for an All-Out Attack on Welfare State
“The Republican budget already assumes $4 trillion in cuts to mandatory spending over 10 years, a euphemism for Social Security and Medicare.” More …
How Medicare Could See a Cut Thanks to the GOP Tax Plan
“The tax plan that congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump are pushing may do more than cut taxes — it could also cut spending for programs including Medicare and student loans. Here’s why: Budgetary rules known as statutory paygo (short for pay-as-you-go) call for automatic spending cuts if Congress enacts bills that have the net effect of increasing the deficit by the end of the year.” More …
GOP Tax Plan Could Save Trump and His Family More Than $1 Billion
“Trump and his family could stand to save more than $1 billion under a tax proposal passed by House Republicans, according to an analysis commissioned by NBC News.” More …
GOP Tax Bill Gives Private Jet Owners a Tax Break
“The new Senate tax bill will give those who own or lease private planes breaks on the amount they pay to companies for maintenance, storage, fueling and even when they want to hire pilots and a crew onboard.” More …
GOP Tax Plan Contains More Bad News for Student Borrowers
“The headline in the New York Times seemed sympathetic: “The House Just Voted To Bankrupt Graduate Students”. The piece by Erin Rousseau, a graduate student at M.I.T., detailed an insidious little virus buried in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, just passed by Republicans in the House. The law would repeal section 117(d)(5) of the tax code, which exempts graduate students’ tuition waiver from taxation.” More …
GOP Tax Plan Got a Triple Whammy of Brutal Reviews
“Three different groups offered critical analyses of the bill’s potentially negative effects on the federal budget, Americans’ taxes, and the broader US economy. While the Senate is still expected to make changes to the legislation, each of the new studies shows that the Senate’s bill has some significant underlying problems.” More …
GOP Tax Bill Could Trigger a $25 Billion Cut to Medicare
“Republicans are trying to pass a $1.5 trillion tax cut — which the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday could trigger a sequestration across some major mandatory spending programs, like Medicare, federal student loans, and agriculture subsidies, and even some funding for customs and border patrol.” More …
GOP Tax Plan Rattles Higher Education
“Congressional Republicans’ plans to slap unprecedented new taxes on higher education have left college leaders shocked and scrambling — the latest salvo in what some observers say is a growing culture war on a higher education system seen as elitist and out of touch.” More …
Trump’s Tax Promises Undercut by CEO Plans to Help Investors
“Major companies including Cisco Systems, Inc., Pfizer, Inc. and Coco Cola Co., say they’ll turn over most gains from proposed corporate tax cuts to their shareholders, undercutting President Donald Trump’s promise that his plan will create jobs and boost wages for the middle class.” More …