[NFBMT] From the New York Times

[Sheila]

Interesting article thanks for posting this.

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Subject: [NFBMT] From the New York Times

The New York Times

Politics

 

Before Tax Bill Vote, Republican Senators Win Another 'Yes'

 

By THE NEW YORK TIMESUPDATED 6:16 AM 

 

. The Senate will convene at 10 a.m. Friday to continue the debate on taxes,
ahead of a possible final vote later in the day.

 

. Republicans seemed to be inching toward victory on Thursday and picked up
the support of Senator John McCain of Arizona.

 

. But they faced a setback late in the day when they were left scrambling to
find hundreds of billions of dollars in extra revenue to satisfy concerns
about the bill's deficit effects.

 

. Lawmakers are now mulling options that would result in a tax increase down
the road, including a possible increase in the corporate tax rate and the
revival of the alternative minimum tax on wealthy individuals and some
companies.

 

. Early Friday morning, Senator Steve Daines, Republican of Montana,
announced his support of the tax bill, bringing Republican leaders closer to
their goal.

 

Senate leaders still need 50 votes for passage.

 

Republican leaders ended Thursday with the same problem they started with:
They still need to secure 50 votes to be able to pass their tax bill.

 

Their effort appeared to be gaining momentum on Thursday, with talk of a
final vote later that night or early Friday.

 

But by the end of the day, they were contending with twin setbacks, both
involving how the bill would affect federal budget deficits.

 

The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation said in an analysis released
on Thursday afternoon that the legislation would add $1 trillion to federal
budget deficits over a decade, even after accounting for economic growth.

 

In addition, a provision meant to prevent ballooning deficits ran into
parliamentary problems. The provision would have increased taxes if economic
growth fell short of expectations, but it was deemed by the Senate
parliamentarian to run afoul of budget rules that must be followed if the
bill is to be shielded from a Democratic filibuster.

 

Without the so-called trigger, the votes of a handful of Republicans,
including Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, appeared at risk.

 

"Senator Corker has been pretty clear he doesn't want any deficit spending,"
Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said on Thursday, adding that he
did not agree with the Joint Committee on Taxation's assessment.

 

To pass the tax bill in the Senate, Republican leaders can lose only two of
their members, assuming Democrats are unified against the measure.

 

Friday could be a long day.

 

The Senate will convene on Friday morning and the debate on taxes will
continue. At some point, the Senate will undertake a marathon of amendment
votes known as a vote-a-rama. Eventually, there would be a final vote on the
legislation.

 

But in the meantime, Republicans need to decide how they want to change
their bill. To satisfy Mr. Corker, for example, Republicans were discussing
putting in place tax increases that would take effect some years from now, a
step that would soften the deficit effects of the legislation.

 

Will they decide to raise taxes?

 

The options under discussion to satisfy the deficit hawks could essentially
result in a tax increase down the road. Lawmakers have talked about raising
the corporate tax rate above 20 percent after a period of years. There's
also discussion about reviving the alternative minimum tax, or A.M.T., on
high-net individuals and some companies.

Both of those ideas are unlikely to sit well with some Republicans,
including those in the House, who could be criticized for essentially voting
to increase taxes.

Lawmakers may decide that's a risk worth taking or they could ultimately
decide to jettison the deficit hawks' concerns and lose their votes.

 

Party leaders gained another vote early Friday.

 

Mr. Daines had objected to the bill because of how it treated pass-through
businesses, whose profits are distributed to owners and taxed at individual
rates. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, has also been in that
camp.

The Senate tax bill allows pass-through owners to deduct 17.4 percent of
their business income as a way of lowering their taxes. Republicans were
planning to increase the deduction to 20 percent to address the concerns
over how pass-through owners were being treated by the bill.

Now, the deduction is to be raised to 23 percent, an aide to Mr. Daines
said.

 

"After weeks of fighting for Main Street businesses including Montana's
farmers and ranchers, I've decided to support the Senate tax cut bill, which
provides significant tax relief for Main Street businesses," Mr. Daines said
in a statement on Friday morning.

 

Several senators are worth watching.

 

As Republicans mull changes to their tax plan, the spotlight will focus on
several senators with varying concerns.

Republican leaders do not need to win over all of these lawmakers. In fact,
they could decide that some demands are simply not worth meeting - assuming
they can satisfy other Republicans and therefore get the 50 votes they need.
Vice President Mike Pence can also provide a tiebreaking vote.

At least a handful of senators have expressed concerns about the deficit,
including Mr. Corker and Senators Jeff Flake of Arizona and James Lankford
of Oklahoma. Now that the trigger is dead, Republicans may need to come up
with another idea to protect against piling up debt as a result of the tax
overhaul.

 

The move to sweeten the tax break for owners of pass-through businesses
should help with securing Mr. Johnson's vote. But it was not clear early
Friday if the change was sufficient to nudge him into the yes column.

 

Finally, there is Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate Republican who has her
own concerns about the tax overhaul. She wants the bill to allow individuals
to deduct up to $10,000 in property taxes, and adding that provision could
help win her over.

 

Joy Breslauer, President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana 

Web Site: http://www.nfbofmt.org

 

Live the life you want

 

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work
together to help blind people live the lives they want. 

 

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