[NFBMT] From the New York Times

Sat Dec 2 05:22:04 UTC 2017

Thanks, Jim.
I wrote a letter online, I called the Bozeman office, I wrote and posted an
open letter to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
Pretty much his opposition was just code, I thought.
The paper has had a ton of letters to the editor against the tax bill. Mine
so far was not selected for print, and that is okay. The one they say is a
tax cut. It will cut, boy, it sure will, but not the right things!

Earlier today, I did hear that Senator Daines had made a statement that he
now is satisfied that his demands were met with provisions for so-called
small business, and that he would support the bill.
I think the proverbial goose has already or will be cooked.
But we all should continue to voice concerns, and our displeasures.
I believe that the majority have been lying about what the bill is, and
pushing it through without much if any transparency, so very rapidly. They
maybe rightly figure that very few are really paying attention. And the
control of propaganda media sources helps this along, too.

Too few are paying attention, I guess, just like too few have been voting.
That makes me sad. It did not hurt either to have the distractions, among
them the big blast of a shopping frenzy that everyone was jabbering about
endlessly, the very serious investigations in the Trump administration, and
all of the other things. The conference between House and Senate versions
may prove out to have more of a movement to resist. We shall see what we
shall see.

We are in a cycle,  An 80 year cycle. Think about that.
and most of us boomers, of a certain age we have had the blessings of past
benefits. They will not stand for those of the current needs generation. 
We will have to grass roots deal with lots of stuff.

But speaking of stuff.
Wow, was I ever stuffed when we finished the Thanksgiving leftovers earlier
this week.
I hope you all had a good helping or two or three or six.

Rik of Bozeman

Oh, one more thing.
Did anyone read the article in the Washington Post on Thanksgiving Day or
the Friday after about driverless cars?
There were parts that had comment from Federationists who have been
participating in giving input on the designs and needed accessibility. Bravo
to them. But boy, it sure is a brave new world coming around the corner.

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jim Marks via
NFBMT
Sent: Friday, December 1, 2017 12:30 PM
To: 'NFB of Montana Discussion List' <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jim Marks <blind.grizzly at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBMT] From the New York Times

I doubt Senator Steve Daines will vote no on the tax bill now, but we still
have to try to influence his decision.  If you haven't called his office to
request that he oppose the tax bill, please do so right away.  The tax bill
is full of terrible outcomes for blind and other Montanans.  Government
services that liberate us are going to be radically cut back should the tax
bill become law.  For instance, we are going to see reductions in vocational
rehabilitation, Medicaid, and Social Security.  We will have to pay more
taxes as a direct consequence of this tax bill.  The federal deficit will
grow massively, thus resulting in even deeper cuts in the near future.  .
Many of us favor tax reform, but reform should take us forward, not
backwards.  This particular tax bill the Senate is considering harms us.

Senator Steve Daines
https://www.daines.senate.gov/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorDainesMT/
Twitter:  @SteveDaines

Office Locations
Washington, D.C.
320 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
p: (202) 224-2651

Billings
222 N. 32nd Street, Ste. 100
Billings, MT 59101
p: (406) 245-6822

Great Falls
104 4th Street North, Ste. 302
Great Falls, MT 59401
p: (406) 453-0148

Helena
30 West 14th Street, Ste. 206
Helena, MT 59601
p: (406) 443-3189

Bozeman
13 S. Willson Ave. Ste. 8
Bozeman, MT 59718
p: (406) 587-3446

Missoula
218 East Front Street, Ste. 103
Missoula, MT 59802
p: (406) 549-8198

Kalispell
40 2nd St East, Suite 211
 (KM Building)
Kalispell, Montana 59901
 p: (406) 257-3765

Sidney
609 S. Central Ave. Suite #4
 (Central Plaza Building)
Sidney, MT, 59270
p: (406) 482-9010

Hardin
310 N Center
 Hardin MT 59034
p: (406) 665-4126
Jim Marks
Blind.grizzly at gmail.com
(406) 438-1421

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sheila via NFBMT
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2017 10:54 AM
To: 'NFB of Montana Discussion List' <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Sheila <sheila.leigland at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBMT] From the New York Times

Interesting article thanks for posting this.

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bruce&Joy
Breslauer via NFBMT
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2017 6:58 AM
To: nfbmt <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Bruce&Joy Breslauer <breslauerj at gmail.com>; marjorie
<dmgregg at 3rivers.net>
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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