Bradley Byrne: A tax cut for working families
A lot has changed in our country since 1986. Ronald Reagan was President, Top Gun was a hit at the box offices, and Matlock had just premiered on television. One thing that hasn’t changed since then? The tax code. 1986 was the last time we had meaningful tax reform in this country, and that is a shame. The current tax code does not match the realities of today’s economy or the needs of modern Americans. Thankfully, a new tax code is on the horizon. Last week, President Trump and Republicans in Congress unveiled our framework for a new, simplified tax code. Under our framework, Americans will keep more of their hard earned money in their pockets, small businesses will be encouraged to grow, and the economy will have what it needs to finally experience real growth again. President Donald Trump put it best when he said that “it’s time for Congress to provide a level playing field for our workers, to bring American companies back home, to attract new companies and businesses to our country, and to put more money into the pockets of everyday hardworking people.” That is exactly what our plan would do. First, our plan would move from the current seven tax brackets to essentially four brackets: 0%, 12%, 25%, and 35%. The 0% bracket would result from doubling the standard deduction to $24,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly or $12,000 for single filers. This change is fundamental to a fairer, simpler system. Additionally, our plan calls for the elimination of special interest tax breaks that primarily only help the well-connected and elite. A complicated tax code full of loopholes and confusing provisions does nothing to benefit the average American family, and we must make things as simple as possible. Importantly, our plan will maintain important tax incentives for home mortgage interest, charitable giving, retirement, and education. The plan also increases the child tax credit to make it available to more working families. With these changes, our plan will allow for a simple “postcard” tax filing for the vast majority of Americans. It will no longer take you countless hours or require you to hire outside help to simply file your taxes. As President Trump has said, these changes will result in a “Middle Class Miracle.” Hardworking people across American will have more money in their pockets, which they can use to benefit their family and spark greater economic growth. Our plan also includes a provision important to family farms and small businesses. By repealing the estate tax, also known as the death tax, we will no longer punish families when someone dies, and they want to leave their business or farm operation to a loved one. Sadly, some on the liberal left has already started spreading false and misleading information about our pro-growth tax plan. I want to ensure you that our tax plan is designed with working Americans in mind, first and foremost. In fact, a key goal of our plan is to eliminate provisions that only benefit the well-connected and well-off. Over the coming weeks, I will continue to share more information with you about how our tax plans will spur economic growth and benefit American families. Next week, we will take a look at how our tax plan will open the United States up for greater economic competitiveness on the world stage and bring jobs back to our country. In the meantime, I encourage you to read the tax reform framework for yourself online at FairAndSimple.gop. As you legislative process moves forward, I welcome your input and feedback. It is time we get the job done and give Americans the tax cuts they deserve and revitalize the American economy. • • • Bradley Byrne is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
Donald Trump to promote tax plan in address to manufacturers group
President Donald Trump will promote his plan for a sweeping rewrite of the tax code to an audience eager for the proposed change. Trump is set to address the National Association of Manufacturers on Friday in Washington. A senior administration official says Trump will promote the tax plan as one that will help make American businesses more competitive. The official insists on anonymity to discuss the speech ahead of time. The president and congressional Republicans this week released the outlines of a nearly $6 trillion tax cut plan that would deeply reduce taxes for corporations, simplify tax brackets and nearly double the standard deduction used by most tax filers. Many details remain to be fleshed out. In the remarks, Trump is expected to highlight a provision that would allow businesses for the next five years to write off the full cost of new equipment in the year it’s purchased. Under the broader proposal, corporations would see their top tax rate cut from 35 percent to 20 percent. Seven personal tax brackets would be reduced to three: 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent. But the information released didn’t include the income levels applied to the rates, making it difficult to know how a typical family’s tax bill may be affected. The plan also recommends a surcharge for the very wealthy. The standard deduction would nearly double to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for families, basically increasing the amount of personal income that would not be taxed. Deductions for mortgage interest and charitable giving would remain, but the plan seeks to end most other itemized deductions. In the address, Trump will also review policy changes since he took office in January that are intended to improve the business climate, the official said. Those changes include lifting restrictions on energy production, reversing environmental rules and rolling back regulations. He’ll also review economic gains of the past eight months. Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the association, said Trump has been a “tireless advocate” for manufacturers. Timmons said U.S. manufacturers “have never been as enthusiastic or as optimistic about their future as they are this year, and that is because of the huge opportunity we have to get tax reform done.” Trump wants to sign tax legislation into law by the end of the year. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Alabama lawmakers react to Donald Trump tax plan
President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled the most ambitious rewrite of the tax code in 30 years. Calling it a “once in a generation” opportunity to cut taxes, the president said he wants to cut taxes for middle-class families to make the system both simpler and fairer. Trump said his tax plan will “bring back the jobs and the wealth that have left our country.” Members of Alabama’s congressional delegation were quick to weigh in on the proposal. Unsurprisingly, Republicans are praising it and the Yellowhammer State’s lone Democrat is raising concerns. The proposed tax framework would would shrink the current seven brackets into effectively four brackets: 0%, 12%, 25%, and 35%. The plan also calls for the standard deduction to double and a significant increase in the Child Tax Credit. But the details are left to Congress to work out later. Here’s what the Alabama delegation had to say about the plan: Alabama 1st District U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne – SUPPORTS: Under the tax reform plan released today, working families would have more money in their pockets, the economy would be revitalized, and small businesses would be incentivized to grow. Just as important, our plan closes special interest loopholes that only benefit the well-connected in an effort to make the tax code fair and simple for all Americans. This will be a process. As the current framework is finalized and built into actual legislation, I look forward to gaining input from individuals and small businesses in Southwest Alabama. Alabama 2nd District U.S. Rep. Martha Roby – SUPPORTS: I’m ready to get this done. It is time to deliver some meaningful results to the American people. Tax reform presents a tremendous opportunity to move this country ahead, and I’m committed to getting it done. Alabama 3rd District U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers – SUPPORTS: I strongly support the tax reform framework outlined today by President Trump and the House Republican Leadership. Tax reform is the single best way to grow our economy. Hard working Americans are due a fairer and simpler tax code. “The tax reform framework is just the first step towards helping families keep more of what they earn, create more good-paying jobs in America and help small businesses. Alabama 4th District U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt — NO RESPONSE. Alabama 5th District U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks — NO RESPONSE. Alabama 6th District U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer — NO RESPONSE. Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell – DOES NOT SUPPORT: While the Ryan-McConnell tax outline released today is short on details, it is clear that the plan prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthy over relief for working families and small businesses. Tax reform should be an opportunity to help hardworking Americans and to build a more competitive economy. Instead, the GOP plan cuts taxes for top earners and leaves Congress to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class. The Ryan-McConnell plan eliminates the alternative minimum tax for high-income individuals at an estimated cost of $413 billion over the next decade. The plan also recommends reducing the top tax bracket from 39.6 percent to 35 percent, a benefit helping only those tax filers earning over $470,000. Altogether, the tax giveaway proposed by Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell would increase the deficit by an estimated $2.2 trillion, leaving future generations with the bill. Just yesterday, I met with President Trump at the White House, where the President promised that his tax plan would not be a tax cut for the wealthy. I plan on holding the President to his word. We cannot miss an opportunity for tax reform that puts working families and small businesses first.
$5 trillion question for Donald Trump tax plan: How to pay for it?
How do you pay for an estimated $5.8 trillion tax cut? For President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders, that is the mostly unanswered $5,800,000,000,000 question. The plan they released Wednesday took a first step toward outlining how Republicans propose to cover some of the monumental cost over the next 10 years, mainly by removing certain tax breaks. But even those proposed changes were left vague — and wouldn’t remotely pay the full cost of the tax cut. The administration says it would eliminate most personal tax breaks. Possibly gone would be people’s ability to deduct state and local taxes as well as eligible medical expenses. But doing so would still leave the tax cut more than $2 trillion shy of paying for itself. The Trump administration argues that it can accelerate the economy’s growth far beyond its current pace and, in doing so, generate enough federal revenue to cover the shortfall. Most economists have called that wishful thinking. That’s why analysts say the government would have to help pay for the tax cut by slashing programs that serve the middle class. Or it would be forced to run the national debt up to dangerous levels, likely driving up borrowing rates for consumers and businesses. Because the administration has put off a full accounting of the trade-offs it’s prepared to make, the politically perilous decisions are being left for the tax-writing committees in the House and Senate to turn the blueprint into an actual bill. Inevitably, analysts say, any tax-cut plan produces losers. “You can’t have responsible tax reform and everyone wins,” said Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The tax cut is being proposed at a time when the publicly held national debt is already $14.6 trillion. Even if tax rates for companies and families were unchanged, the debt is expected to balloon by an additional $10 trillion over the next decade. That increase largely reflects the rising costs of Social Security and Medicare as the vast generation of baby boomers continues to retire. The proposed tax cuts in the Trump plan would total $5.8 trillion over 10 years, according to an analysis by the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget and other reports. That figure includes the effects of reducing the number of individual tax brackets and shrinking the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, among other changes. (The plan doesn’t specify which income levels would apply to each individual bracket.) The plan does list a few changes to generate additional revenue. But these ideas could undermine some of Trump’s claims that the middle class as a whole would benefit from the changes. For example, families could no longer reduce their taxable income with personal exemptions for dependents in their household. This would return about $1.6 trillion to the government. It could also nullify the benefits Trump says would result from doubling the standard deduction people now receive if they don’t itemize their taxes. Losing the personal exemption means some middle class families might end up paying more in taxes, said Ernie Tedeschi, a former Treasury Department adviser who is a policy economist at the investment bank Evercore ISI. “For the average family, they don’t have enough details yet” to know whether the plan helps them, Tedeschi said. An additional $1.6 trillion would, in theory, be generated by repealing most of the itemized deductions (excluding mortgage interest and charitable deductions). The administration has said itemized deductions usually help only the affluent. But in fact, many middle class households benefit from itemizing deductions in any given year. A prime example is the state and local tax deduction, which can help moderate income households in such high-cost states as California and New York. There are other unmentioned deductions that could be lost to the middle class. Families can now itemize deductions for outsized medical costs or property damaged by natural disasters such as hurricanes, noted Seth Hanlon, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress and a former economic aide to President Barack Obama. “There is going to be a large number of middle class families that are going to be severely disadvantaged,” Hanlon said. Even with all the additional revenue from these changes and others, the Trump plan would add $2.2 trillion to the debt. Estimates suggest that that figure would swell to $2.7 trillion if additional interest payments on the debt were included. So how to cover that cost? Senate Republicans have signaled their willingness to let the national debt rise by as much as $1.5 trillion over the next decade. Even that wouldn’t likely be enough. The administration has a ready response to that problem. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, Trump’s top economic adviser, argue that the tax cut would spark economic growth exceeding 3 percent annually, well above its recent 2 percent average. That added growth would, they say, generate revenue to cover the remainder of the cost of the tax cut. “Honestly, we think we can get over 3 percent, so it’s not just the 3 percent bogey we’re shooting at,” Cohn said in an interview. Academic economists surveyed by the University of Chicago in May overwhelmingly asserted that the tax cuts would fail to deliver the growth the White House is promising. That perspective is shared by economists monitoring the financial and credit markets. “It’s very hard to imagine growth rates topping 2.5 percent, let alone 3 percent,” said Beth Ann Bovino, U.S. chief economist at S&P Global Ratings. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Senate GOP looking for budget deal to open way to tax redo
Pushing toward the Republicans’ prime goal of tax legislation, the GOP Senate leader and members of the Budget Committee are scrambling to come up with a budget deal to clear the way for the first tax overhaul in three decades. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP members of the Budget Committee are meeting Tuesday with two top Trump administration officials to plot breaking the budget stalemate. Lack of a budget plan for the 2018 fiscal year starting Oct. 1 is a roadblock to the must-do legislation overhauling the tax system that Republicans and President Donald Trump have made their highest priority. Trump’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are meeting with McConnell and budget panel members. Underscoring the president’s desire for tax legislation, Trump was hosting a bipartisan group of senators for dinner at the White House on Tuesday, including a trio of moderate Democrats from states Trump won last November and whose votes he’d like to have on a tax bill. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana are to be joined at dinner by Republican Sens. John Thune of North Dakota, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Orrin Hatch of Utah, the White House said. Manchin, Heitkamp and Donnelly are the only Democratic senators who did not sign a letter addressed to Republican leaders and Trump that said the Democratic caucus would not support a tax overhaul that cuts taxes for the “top 1 percent” or adds to the government’s $20 trillion debt. Heitkamp traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to an event in her home state last week where he spoke broadly about the tax plan. Trump pitched the senator on the overhaul, calling her a “good woman.” Heitkamp said after the event that she needs to see the details first. Under Washington’s complicated ways, passing a congressional budget blueprint is the only way to set in motion a special process for rewriting the tax code. If Congress can pass a budget, Republicans controlling the Senate don’t need to worry about a Democratic filibuster blocking any tax bill. House action has been held up by a battle between moderates and conservatives over whether to pair spending cuts with the filibuster-proof tax measure. Senate action has been on hold while the House struggles. An impasse could doom the tax overhaul effort. On the budget panel, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., is hoping to limit the deficit cost of the tax effort, while Toomey is on the other end of the spectrum favoring more robust deficit-financed tax cuts. GOP leaders have asked them to try to craft an agreement among the 12 budget panel Republicans. Any Republican defection on the budget plan would deadlock the narrowly divided committee. “I’m a fiscal hawk, OK? I believe in pro-growth tax reform and I believe that’s a mechanism toward lowering deficits,” Corker said Monday. “But I’m also someone who wants to be realistic about all of this, and not let this just be party time that takes us no place but massive deficits down the road.” Revamping the nation’s tax system and providing relief for the middle class is a Republican mission following the collapse of efforts to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law. Trump has made it a pillar of his push for economic growth. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
House Speaker Paul Ryan promises tax overhaul this year despite chaos
House Speaker Paul Ryan insisted on Thursday that Congress will overhaul the U.S. tax system this year despite the chaos consuming Washington and the political divisions in Congress. “I feel very confident we can meet this goal,” Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters. Ryan was bolstered by skittish business leaders who began an aggressive lobbying effort to ensure that their vision for a tax overhaul isn’t lost in the daily distractions of President Donald Trump‘s administration. The conservative Koch brothers’ political network announced it is preparing to spend millions of dollars toward that end. The announcement came on the same day a handful of business executives told a congressional committee that the current tax system makes U.S. companies uncompetitive. “We no longer live in a world where the U.S. can set a corporate tax rate without considering what our international competition looks like,” John Stephen, AT&T’s chief financial officer, told the House Ways and Means Committee. “Countries are vigorously competing against each other to attract investment and jobs, but the U.S. has done little to retain its competitive advantage.” The Trump administration released a one-page tax proposal last month that included massive tax cuts for businesses, a bigger standard tax deduction for middle-income families, lower investment taxes for the wealthy, and an end to the federal estate tax for the very rich. Thirty-one years after the last overhaul, there is widespread agreement that the current tax system is too complicated and picks too many winners and losers, compelling companies to make business decisions based on tax implications instead of sound business reasons. But there are deep political and practical disagreements over how to fix it. Is it OK for a tax overhaul to add to the nation’s debt? Should corporations pay less? Should rich people pay more? “I do believe that there are very serious and legitimate concerns to any version of tax reform, and we’re going to have to accommodate those concerns as we move to a new tax system,” Ryan said. Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch are undertaking a multimillion-dollar campaign through the summer to ensure their conservative tax plan is not forgotten, said James Davis, spokesman for the Kochs’ political network. The campaign will include digital ads and town hall meetings, along with phone banks and direct mail. “Now is the time. We’ve got to unite around these principles,” Davis said. “The White House hopefully will see this as a jolt to support them in driving this forward.” The Koch push reflects broader concerns from the nation’s business community that Trump’s promise of a tax overhaul may fall victim to his mounting political challenges. The stock market on Wednesday suffered its largest single-day loss of the Trump presidency. That was before the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to investigate allegations that Trump’s campaign collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 election. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said 100 people at his department are working on an overhaul, and that the goal is to bring “meaningful relief” to the middle class and make American businesses competitive. Mnuchin testified before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee – his first appearance before that committee since being sworn in. He said the U.S. can achieve 3 percent economic growth or more if the United States makes historic changes in taxes and regulations. Democratic lawmakers weren’t buying that economic growth would pay for Trump’s tax cuts. “I think all you’re doing is just adding to the deficit, which is incredibly irresponsible to the children of this country,” said Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind. Mnuchin replied, “I can assure you we have no interest in doing that.” Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., pressed Mnuchin to commit that the Trump administration’s tax overhaul wouldn’t raise taxes on those Americans making less than $250,000. Mnuchin said that the administration’s goal is tax relief for the middle class. “I can assure that the president’s objective and my objective is that we create a middle-income tax cut and that we do not raise taxes on the middle income, if anything, the opposite, we are trying to create a middle-income tax cut,” Mnuchin said. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Americans for Prosperity launches ad calling on Congress to scrap border adjustment tax
A new ad from Americans for Prosperity is calling on Congress to ax the border adjustment tax provision included in House leadership tax reform proposals. The organization launched the national, six-figure ad buy Monday. The ad 30-second spots are expected to air on cable news, and encourage the public to call on their lawmakers to scrap the provision. “Imposing a massive 20-percent import tax is the wrong approach. A border adjustment tax would harm hard working families that deserve relief from the tax code, not a new consumer tax that would drive up the cost of everyday items,” said Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity, in a statement. “Congress needs to know this is not the change the American people signed up for. We have a significant opportunity to get the tax system working for every American, but we need to move on from this costly and misguided policy.” The ad, according to the organization, is the latest in AFP’s effort to oppose the border adjustment tax, and comes on the heels of a new report, which detailed the impact the tax could have on state’s economies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtuFqpnuFh0&feature=youtu.be
Congress seen as not likely to pass tax overhaul quickly
After their humiliating loss on health care, Republicans in Congress could use a quick victory on a big issue. It won’t be an overhaul of the tax code. Overhauling the tax code could prove harder to accomplish than repealing and replacing Barack Obama‘s health law. Congressional Republicans are divided on significant issues, especially a new tax on imports embraced by House Speaker Paul Ryan. And the White House is sending contradicting signals on the new tax, adding to the uncertainty. House Republicans also can’t decide whether to move on from health care. Ryan canceled a scheduled vote on a House GOP plan after it became obvious that Republicans didn’t have the votes. He said he will continue to work on the issue but one of his top lieutenants on health care, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, says he is now “100 percent” focused on a tax overhaul. Ryan says Congress can work on both at the same time. It won’t be easy. Here’s why: ___ REPUBLICAN DIVIDE House and Senate Republicans largely agree on the broad outlines of a tax overhaul. They want to lower tax rates for individuals and corporations, and make up the lost revenue by scaling back tax breaks. But they are sharply divided on a key tenet of the House Republican plan. The new “border adjustment tax” would be applied to profits from goods and services consumed in the U.S., whether they are domestically produced or imported. Exports would be exempt. House GOP leaders say the tax is key to lowering the top corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. But good luck finding a single Republican senator who will publicly support the tax. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is the latest in a long line of Republican senators to come out against the tax. ___ ABSENT DEMOCRATS Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, says he wants to work with Democrats to overhaul the tax code. “A bipartisan bill would allow us to put in place more lasting reforms and give the overall effort additional credibility,” Hatch said. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said it is bad policy to pass major legislation without bipartisan support. “Without some meaningful buy-in, you guarantee a food fight,” McConnell wrote in his memoir last year. “You guarantee instability and strife.” But in the House, Republicans haven’t reached out to Democrats in any meaningful way. ___ WHERE’S THE WHITE HOUSE? “Obviously we’re driving the train on this,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. But President Donald Trump‘s administration has been all over the map on tax reform. Trump at one point said the House border tax is too complicated, then said it’s in the mix. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a Senate panel that “there would be no absolute tax cut for the upper class” in Trump’s tax plan. However, the plan Trump unveiled during his presidential campaign would provide big tax breaks to high-income households. Since taking office, Trump has promised “massive” tax cuts for the middle class. A former Treasury official under President Barack Obama says the White House needs to stake out clear goals on tax overhaul to guide the debate in Congress. “I think it’s important for the administration to signal early the general shape” of what they would like to accomplish so that there are fewer proposals vying for attention, said Michael Mundaca, a former assistant Treasury secretary now at Ernst & Young. ___ TAX CHANGE IS DIFFICULT There is a reason it’s been 31 years since the last time Congress rewrote the tax code. Since then, the number of exemptions, deductions and credits has mushroomed. Taxpayers enjoyed $1.6 trillion in tax breaks in 2016 — more than the federal government collected in individual income taxes. That huge number could provide plenty of tax breaks that lawmakers can scale back so they can lower tax rates significantly. There is just one problem — all of the biggest tax breaks are very popular and have powerful constituencies. Nearly 34 million families claimed the mortgage interest deduction in 2016. That same year more than 43 million families took advantage of a deduction of state and local taxes. The House Republicans’ tax plan would retain the mortgage deduction and eliminate the deduction for state and local taxes. ___ HEALTH CARE Both Trump and Republicans in Congress made big campaign promises to repeal and replace Obama’s health law, so the issue won’t go away. However, several players say negotiations on a way forward are non-existent. In the meantime, Trump is stoking animosity among a key voting bloc by criticizing them on Twitter. Two factions in the House GOP had members oppose the health plan: the hard-right Freedom Caucus and the moderate Tuesday Group. Ryan has suggested that they get together to sort out their differences, but it’s not happening, according to one key lawmaker. “We are not currently negotiating with the Freedom Caucus. There was never a meeting scheduled with the Freedom Caucus. We will never meet with the Freedom Caucus,” said Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., a member of the Tuesday Group. Trump tweeted: “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!” To quote a favorite saying of the president, Not nice. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Hillary Clinton lining up policy priorities for 2017, if she wins
Hillary Clinton‘s advisers are crafting a domestic policy agenda for the opening months of a potential presidency that is centered on three issues with some level of Republican support: an infrastructure package that emphasizes job creation, criminal justice reform, and immigration legislation — with the promise of quick executive action if a bill fails in Congress. Clinton’s campaign aides and transition team have been emphasizing the trio of priorities in conversations with lawmakers and advocacy groups, according to several people involved in those discussions. While Clinton has spoken frequently about each subject in campaign appearances, her advisers’ discussions provide new insight into how the Democrat might approach her first months in the White House, should she defeat Donald Trump on Nov. 8. People with knowledge of Clinton’s planning insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private conversations publicly. Clinton campaign officials would not comment on the emerging agenda, saying Clinton is focused squarely on defeating Trump and helping Democrats take control of the Senate, which would improve her chances of securing passage of her policy priorities. “Anyone who thinks that our candidate or the campaign is focused on the transition is mistaken,” said Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director. “Hillary Clinton is superstitious.” Clinton has led national and battleground state polls in recent weeks, though Trump sees a new FBI email inquiry as an opening to overtake the Democrat in the election’s closing days. If Clinton wins, immigration is expected be among the most complex domestic policy issues she hopes to tackle in 2017. Some Republican leaders, desperate to boost their party’s appeal with Hispanics, have backed legislation, but the party’s right wing keeps resisting, and may be more emboldened by the popularity of Trump’s hardline immigration policies with some GOP voters. Clinton’s team has actively looked for ways to avoid the traps that have sunk President Barack Obama‘s bid for an immigration overhaul in 2013. Sweeping legislation that included a path to citizenship for millions of people illegally in the U.S. passed the Senate that year, but Republican leaders in the House refused to put the measure up for a vote. Advocacy groups have discussed with Clinton aides the prospect of pushing the House to act on immigration first this time around, testing the will of a chamber that is expected to stay in Republican hands. However, that approach is largely contingent on Paul Ryan remaining speaker of the House. The Wisconsin lawmaker has spoken favorably of the need to address the nation’s fractured immigration laws. But he may face an internal revolt that forces him out of his leadership post, given the anger among some House Republicans over his lukewarm support for Trump during the general election. Asked whether Ryan would be willing to work with Clinton on immigration legislation, spokeswoman AshLee Strong said: “Speaker Ryan is focused on beating Democrats in November, including Hillary Clinton.” In another break from Obama’s immigration strategy, Clinton aides have signaled plans to wield the threat of executive action more aggressively during the legislative process. Obama spent years insisting only Congress could change immigration laws, though he later took executive actions to keep millions of people in the U.S. illegally from deportation. “We’re long past time when a president can simply say, I really supported (immigration reform), but Congress didn’t do it,” said Clarissa Martinez De Castro of the National Council of La Raza, a group that advocates immigration reform. Some of Obama’s executive actions on immigration have been challenged in the courts. The Supreme Court, which is down one justice, deadlocked 4-4 on a decision about the legality of the executive actions. If Clinton is elected, she would presumably nominate a ninth justice inclined to uphold the measures. Beyond the pitched battle potentially ahead on immigration, it’s clear Clinton’s team is looking for ways she could court bipartisan support for other policies. Clinton aides have been telling Democrats that she plans to push swiftly for a package of criminal justice reforms, seizing on an issue with broad Republican backing. She could ask lawmakers to pick up a package of reforms that stalled in the Senate earlier this fall, legislation aimed at reducing mandatory minimum sentences for some non-violent offenders and reducing the money the U.S. spends on incarcerations. “There’s going to be a very important effort for bipartisan cooperation together on this,” Clinton said of criminal justice reform in a radio interview Thursday. Advisers say Clinton does not view gun control, a more politically risky issue even among some Democratic members of Congress, as part of a criminal justice package. Clinton’s other main priority should she win appears to be moving swiftly on a multibillion-dollar infrastructure package aimed at boosting economic growth and creating jobs. She’s proposed spending $275 billion on new road, sewer and other infrastructure projects. Republicans are broadly supportive of infrastructure investments. But as with the numerous fiscal fights between Obama and congressional Republicans, paying for the spending bill could become a point of contention. Clinton’s plan states that “business tax reform” would finance her agenda, which would include $250 billion in direct funding over five years and $25 billion to seed an infrastructure bank. While the details of the tax reforms are unclear, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer has said the money could come from letting companies pay a lower tax rate on their overseas earnings. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Updates from the 1st presidential debate
The Latest on the first of three presidential debates between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump (all times EDT): 10:45 p.m. Both candidates concluded the first presidential debate by saying they will accept the outcome if the other wins. Hillary Clinton spoke directly to viewers and said, “It’s not about us, it’s about you.” Donald Trump initially dodged the same question, saying he would make a “seriously troubled” America “great again.” He added: “I’m going to be able to do it. I don’t believe Hillary Clinton will.” But Trump finished his answer by saying that if Clinton wins, “I will absolutely support her.” ___ 10:43 p.m. Hillary Clinton is punching back at Donald Trump’s assertions that she doesn’t have the “stamina” to be president. Trump has questioned whether Clinton has the physical fitness to be president and he repeated the criticism to her directly during the debate. Clinton’s response? Trump shouldn’t talk about stamina until he’s tried out the busy schedule she kept up as secretary of state. Trump didn’t answer moderator Lester Holt’s original question about his past comments that Clinton doesn’t have the “presidential look.” Clinton suggested the remarks were about gender, and she reminded the crowd of Trump’s past comments calling women “pigs” and other derogatory names. ___ 10:42 p.m. Donald Trump says NATO needs to “go into the Middle East with us” to combat the Islamic State group. And he is taking credit for NATO focusing resources on combating terrorism. In fact, the alliance agreed in July to contribute aircraft and conduct training in Iraq and has increased intelligence coordination there. And NATO set up an anti-terrorism program in 2004 — years before Trump criticized them as a presidential candidate. Earlier this year, Trump criticized NATO for not focusing on terrorism. He said that afterward, he saw an article reporting that NATO was opening a new, major anti-terrorism division. He said Tuesday that NATO’s action was “largely because of what I was saying, and my criticism of NATO.” ___ 10:40 p.m. Donald Trump is avoiding a specific declaration on how he would use nuclear weapons if he’s elected president. The Republican nominee said during the first presidential debate that he “would not do first strike” because “once the nuclear alternative happens, it’s over.” That statement suggests he would not authorize a nuclear attack unless the U.S. was struck first. But in the same answer Trump said he “can’t take anything off the table.” He mentioned adversary nations such as North Korea and Iran. President Barack Obama has considered changing existing policy to state clearly that the United States would not deploy nuclear weapons without first being attacked by nuclear weapons. But he met resistance and has elected not to make such a shift. ___ 10:38 p.m. Hillary Clinton is accusing Donald Trump of being too easily provoked to keep the United States from going to war — perhaps even one involving nuclear weapons. Trump says: “I have much better judgment than she does. I have much better temperament.” That drew laughs from some in the debate crowd, and prompted Clinton to exclaim: “Woo! OK!” Clinton then pivoted to policy, defending the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. Clinton said Iran was “weeks away” from a nuclear bomb when she became secretary of state — and says the Obama administration thwarted that progress. She continued that Trump didn’t have “good judgment or the right temperament” because he could take the country to war over small issues, like being mocked on Twitter. ___ 10:35 p.m. Donald Trump is continuing to insist he opposed the Iraq War before the U.S. invasion despite evidence to the contrary. Trump says during the debate that he “did not support the war in Iraq,” calling that charge “mainstream media nonsense.” But there is no evidence Trump expressed public opposition to the war before the U.S. invaded. Trump was asked in September 2002 whether he supported a potential Iraq invasion in an interview with Howard Stern. Trump briefly hesitated, then responded: “Yeah, I guess so.” Presented with the comment during the debate, Trump responds: “I said very lightly, I don’t know, maybe, who knows.” He’s also telling reporters to call Fox News host Sean Hannity to confirm private conversations he said they had about the war. Hannity is a top Trump supporter. Clinton voted in favor of the invasion in 2002 while she was a New York senator. She has since said it was a mistake. ___ 10:27 p.m. Donald Trump is interrupting the moderator of the first presidential debate to insist he has the best temperament for the office. Trump repeatedly made the assertion after clashing with moderator Lester Holt over his early support for the Iraq War. Then he segued to his temperament. “I think my strongest asset by far is my temperament,” Trump said. “I know how to win.” Clinton and her allies have repeatedly hit Trump over his temper and inability to take criticism. ___ 10:23 p.m. Hillary Clinton says one key to fighting terrorism in the United States is working closely with Muslims living here. Clinton says Donald Trump has “consistently insulted Muslims abroad, Muslims at home.” She says Muslim people can provide information that law enforcement may not be able to obtain anyplace else. Both candidates were asked to explain how they would combat terrorism in the U.S. Clinton says her plan includes an intelligence surge to obtain “every scrap of information” and to “do everything we can to vacuum up intelligence from Europe, from the Middle East.” ___ 10:20 p.m. Hillary Clinton says defeating the Islamic State group and taking out its leaders would be a top priority as president. Clinton says she’s hopeful the Islamic State group would be pushed out of Iraq by the end of the year. She says the U.S. could then help its allies “squeeze” the terrorist group in Syria. Clinton says she would do everything possible to take out the group’s leaders, and make that one of her administration’s organizing principles
Bradley Byrne: A better way forward
From health care to national security, people are worried about the direction our country is headed. That is certainly what I hear at my town hall meetings in Southwest Alabama, but the same is true all around the United States. According to Real Clear Politics, 65 percent of Americans believe our country is headed in the wrong direction. When you are frustrated, it is simple to spend all your time complaining about what is wrong. In other words, it is easy to be against something. But we can’t just spend all our time complaining and talking about why we are frustrated. We must rise above that temptation. Instead, we need to counter the current policies with ideas of our own. The American people are better off when there is a battle of ideas. With this in mind, House Republicans recently released what we are calling a “Better Way” agenda. This agenda offers an alternative to the “Washington-knows-best,” big government policies that have wrecked our country over the last eight years. Our platform focuses on six main areas, so I want to take a minute to discuss our plan and explain why I believe it offers a “Better Way.” Poverty: Our nation’s welfare system needs to put a real focus on work instead of just throwing more money toward government programs. We must do more to help Americans gain the skills they need to get a job instead of encouraging government dependency. National Security: We have to get serious about defeating radical Islamic terrorism, and that means having a strategy to defeat our enemies overseas. We must also protect the homeland by securing our borders and closing loopholes in our broken immigration system. It is also important that we don’t lose sight of new, evolving threats like cyberattacks. The safety and security of the American people must always be the top priority. The Economy: It is time we roll back costly regulations that are only driving up costs for American families. We must also focus on making energy more affordable by pursuing an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. Innovation needs to be encouraged instead of punished. Finally, we need to put an end to Wall Street bailouts once and for all. The Constitution: We have to make sure the Constitution is being followed, and that means restoring the powers of Congress. We must hold government agencies accountable and do everything we can to encourage efficiency and effectiveness across the federal government. Most importantly, Congress must get back to using our “power of the purse.” Health Care: First, Obamacare must go, but we need to replace it with patient-centered reforms based on free-market principles. We need to give patients more choices by allowing for health insurance to be sold across state lines. We must also strengthen Medicare for our nation’s seniors while also preserving the program for the next generation. Tax Reform: We need to completely rewrite the tax code so it is simpler and fairer for every family. Under our plan, everyone’s taxes would come down, and most people could fill out their taxes with a simple post card form. These reforms will also boost the economy and make it easier for small businesses to create jobs. This is just a quick look at our “Better Way” agenda. You can learn more online at Better.gop. I also realize that our agenda won’t be put in place overnight. Some of the reforms will take longer than others, but at least now we have put forward a bold agenda for the path forward. There is a “Better Way,” and I am committed to making it a reality. • • • Bradley Byrne is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
Bradley Byrne: Our tax code is in desperate need of reform
You have all heard the quote before: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Just this week, many Americans are scrambling as we hit the filing deadline for 2016 individual tax returns. Studies have shown that American families spend over 6 billion hours a year filing their taxes. That adds up to almost 700,000 years. Those numbers are astonishing. The numbers also demonstrate the very serious challenges caused by our complex tax code. It is too long, too complicated, and too hard to understand. Americans are forced to spend precious time researching, studying, or paying for services just to figure out how much money they owe the government. There is something wrong with that picture. Individuals aren’t the only ones who are hit hard by our complicated and outdated tax code. At 39.1%, the United States has the third highest top marginal corporate tax rate in the world. Only Chad and the United Arab Emirates have a higher rate. With a tax code that is thousands of pages long, businesses large and small spend billions of dollars on fees paid to accountants and tax lawyers to file their taxes. There is a better way. Congress can eliminate hundreds of deductions and credits, many of which benefit only one or a handful of special interests, and use those savings to substantially lower tax rates for individuals and businesses. This would create a fairer, simpler, and cleaner tax code. If done correctly, most Americans would only have to fill out a one page return and at the same time pay less in taxes. With lower rates, American corporations could better compete in the world economy, businesses of all sizes would have a level playing field, and more jobs would be created. This type of reform is long overdue. In fact, it has been almost 30 years since Congress last made significant reforms to the tax code. If you are wondering whether or not tax reform can grow the economy, just look at what happened in the 1980s under President Reagan. In 1981, President Reagan helped push a 25 percent across-the-board tax cut through Congress. He followed that up in 1986 with the largest simplification of the tax code ever achieved. These reforms clearly worked and the economic statistics prove it. From 1982 through 1990, our country experienced the longest period of sustained economic growth during peacetime in American history. The economy grew by about one-third in real, inflation-adjusted dollars. Tax reform is without a doubt a boon for the economy. That’s why I have co-sponsored a bill that would help force Congress to take up the very serious issue of tax reform. H.R. 27, the Tax Code Termination Act, would sunset the current tax code on December 31, 2019. By putting an end date on the tax code, Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle would have no choice but to get serious about rewriting the entire tax code. People will say that tax reform is too hard and that it can’t be done in today’s political climate. But I don’t believe I was elected to make easy choices. Instead, I was elected to work toward commonsense solutions that help the American people. A simplified tax code is exactly the type of the reform the American people are looking for. So as this Tax Day comes and passes, I vow to continue fighting for a simplified tax code that makes life easier for American families while also promoting economic growth. • • • Bradley Byrne is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
