Treasury Nominee Mnuchin Vows to Close Tax Loopholes, Expand Economic Growth

Stabenow asked whether Mnuchin supports closing tax loopholes that wealthy individuals use to avoid paying taxes.

In the hearing, Democrats on the Senate panel challenged Mnuchin’s explanations, suggesting it was because he did not want to reveal his participation in a business that could be used as an offshore tax haven.

Mnuchin promised to enforce sanctions against Russia, seeming to counter some of Trump’s comments expressing support for Russian president Vladimir Putin. “So there was no benefit to me from the Cayman entity”.

Mnuchin made few forays into policy during his hearing, though he did provide details of the border tax that Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose on USA companies that offshore operations and sell products back home.

On Thursday, Mnuchin said he had little choice but to foreclose on some of those homes, due to the government’s guidelines.

US debt levels at about $20 trillion are too high, he said. “The question is how we address it in a thoughtful way that does not hurt economic growth”, he said. So, when Mnuchin said that his bank was incentivized to do loan modifications, rather than foreclosures, he was being mendacious in the extreme.

“I’m talking about his business”. “Is it fair to categorize him as an worldwide businessman?” she continued.

TRADE: He said that negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement should be reopened, arguing that it can be renegotiated in a way that benefits both the US and Mexico.

Mnuchin said he would lead the tax reform for the Trump administration, and he believed tax simplification, fewer deductions and deficit-neutral were very critical for the tax reform plan. Trump has proposed cutting the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent and reducing the number of tax brackets to three from seven.

To address these last-minute concerns, additional consultants were flown in to help him get ready; Axios also reports that Trump’s transition officials were annoyed when Mnuchin leaked his appointment to the press.

During Mnuchin’s tenure with One West, the bank foreclosed on as many as 36,000 homes, while Mnuchin may have made as much as $200 million in the process. But he said the lender, which he renamed OneWest, modified over 100,000 loans that saved thousands of jobs.

On Thursday, the former Goldman Sachs partner will testify before the Senate Finance Committee, and although, Republicans are expected to confirm President-elect Trump’s nominee, Democrats aren’t going down without a fight.

Mnuchin said he could not talk about specific loans because of privacy but that some had been in the public eye.

However, Mnuchin had left out $95 million in real estate from his initial disclosures, according to the memo.Mnuchin also at first failed to disclose his role as director of Dune Capital International, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, the document shows.

After questions from committee staff, Mnuchin included the information on revised questionnaires he submitted this month.

Democratic members of the Senate have mostly tempered their criticism of Donald Trump’s ghoulish cabinet appointees, but their sense of restraint finally appears to be waning.

Democrats also attacked Mnuchin’s record when he ran OneWest bank, saying he failed to do enough to keep people from losing their homes. “We are doing our jobs to truly vet this nominee”.