Trump, House tax chief send mixed signals on 401(k) tax break

Thursday’s vote highlights the political challenges ahead.

“Four percent is what the Senate Republican caucus has been comfortable with for a while”.

Republican Senator Jeff Flake has said Donald Trump’s “impulse to threaten and scapegoat” could turn the United States into “backward people”.

What we know already about the tax reform plan is good for Americans and American commerce. And in the minds of many congressional Republicans, getting a tax bill written, passed and signed into law – soon – is imperative. Both Republican senators have announced that they would not seek re-election next year.

“It is a priority of this administration and it is a legislative priority to ensure that American families can thrive”, she said. “On tax reform, my relationship with President Trump has been excellent; he calls regularly, we talk through key elements of tax reform, trading ideas…”

Faced with a choice between temporary tax cuts and permanent tax reform, Republicans appear to be heading down the oxymoronic path known as temporary tax reform.

Striking out on tax reform would represent an undeniable defeat for Trump.

A fevered series of meetings in recent weeks with top Republican leaders failed to produce a compromise to mollify the rebels.

Johns argued that the credibility of Congress has plummeted. Trump daily proves Corker’s point that it’s foolish to expect he’ll ever change.

“There may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican Party”, he said.

Governor Mary Fallin added, “Unfortunately, there’s been some lines drawn in the sand and it’s time to move off that. We understand the game that’s played”. Duncan said. “It’s time to get the egos out of the way”.

“This is a significant moment, because now this pushes forward on the bigger issue of tax reform”, said Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN 03). But he said it will not be easy. “That doesn’t mean we are going to agree on everything”.

The Oklahoma Senate told the House Thursday enough is enough – it’s time to pass a special session budget deal, and that means an increase in the gross production tax. But House GOP leaders touted the result as an important step toward tax relief.

Tax reformers generally have discussed ending interest deductibility in conjunction with allowing companies to immediately write off capital expenditures. House Ways and Means House Committee Chairman Kevin Brady announced Thursday they will have a draft of the bill on November 1, then proceed to a committee vote on it the following week. House Democrats will bring every vote to the table to approve the revenue increases contained in HB1035X if the measure is amended to contain a provision to increase the gross production tax on oil and gas by one of the following methods: (1) increase the incentive rate to 4% for the first 12 months of production, (2) increase the incentive rate to 4.5% for the first 18 months of production, or (3) increase the incentive rate to 5% for 36 months of production.

Herschel Fink, executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party, said Flake’s retirement “further exposes the Republican Party’s civil war – which will continue in full force in Arizona as the GOP struggles with a field of candidates who go further and further out of touch with voters”.

“So why are we voting on the Senate’s?” he asked. “Because our Senate colleagues seem allergic sometimes to making tough choices”. But the president saw that this would give Democrats a chance to claim the overall plan was a blow to the middle class.

A parade of Democrats piled on criticism. This would hurt the middle class.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) called it an “extreme budget”.

If tax cuts are written to be temporary and yield a $1.5 trillion increase in federal debt, official budget scorekeepers will likely find that they do little or nothing to grow the economy, with short-term gains giving way to slower growth.