U.S. House gives final approval to tax bill, delivering victory to Trump

[webfact]

U.S. House gives final approval to tax bill, delivering victory to Trump

By David Morgan and Amanda Becker

 

U.S. President Donald Trump celebrates with Congressional Republicans after the U.S. Congress passed sweeping tax overhaul legislation, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., December 20, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval on Wednesday to the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in 30 years, sending a sweeping $1.5 trillion tax bill to President Donald Trump for his signature.

 

In sealing Trump's first major legislative victory since he took office in January, Republicans steamrolled opposition from Democrats to pass a bill that slashes taxes for corporations and the wealthy while giving mixed, temporary tax relief to middle-class Americans.

 

The House approved the measure by 224-201, passing it for the second time in two days after a procedural foul-up forced another vote on Wednesday. The Republican-led Senate had passed it 51-48 in the early hours of Wednesday.

 

"We are making America great again," Trump said, echoing his campaign slogan at a White House celebration with Republican lawmakers. "Ultimately what does it mean? It means jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs."

 

Trump, who emphasized a tax cut for middle-class Americans during his 2016 campaign, said at an earlier Cabinet meeting that lowering the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent was "probably the biggest factor in this plan."

 

It was uncertain when the bill would be signed. White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said the timing depended on whether automatic spending cuts triggered by the legislation could be waived.

 

The administration expects the waiver to be included in a spending resolution Congress will pass later this week, a White House official told reporters. Cohn told Fox News Channel on Wednesday night that Trump could sign the bill as soon as Friday if the resolution was passed by then.

 

"If not, most likely we'll sign it in the first week of the new year," Cohn said.

 

BUSINESS FRIENDLY

 

In addition to cutting the U.S. corporate income tax rate, the debt-financed legislation gives other business owners a new 20 percent deduction on business income and reshapes how the government taxes multinational corporations along the lines that the country's largest businesses have recommended for years.

 

Wall Street's main indexes were little changed on Wednesday, taking a breather after a month-long rally ahead of the long-anticipated tax vote. The S&P 500 has climbed about 4.5 percent since mid-November, led by a rally in sectors such as transport, banks and others that are expected to benefit the most from lower taxes.

 

Under the bill, millions of Americans would stop itemizing deductions, putting tax breaks that incentivise home ownership and charitable donations out of their reach, but also making tax returns somewhat simpler and shorter.

 

The bill keeps the existing number of tax brackets but adjusts many of the rates and income levels for each one. The top tax rate for high earners is reduced. The estate tax on inheritances is changed so far fewer people will pay.

 

Once signed, taxpayers likely would see the first changes to their paycheck tax withholdings in February. Most households will not see the full effect of the tax plan on their income until they file their 2018 taxes in early 2019.

 

In two provisions added to secure needed Republican votes, the legislation also allows oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and removes a tax penalty under the Obamacare health law for Americans who do not obtain health insurance.

 

"We have essentially repealed Obamacare and we'll come up with something that will be much better," Trump said.

 

Democrats were united in opposition to the tax legislation, calling it a giveaway to the wealthy that will widen the income gap between rich and poor, while adding $1.5 trillion over the next decade to the $20 trillion national debt. Trump promised during the campaign that he would eliminate the national debt.

 

For a graphic on Republican tax bill's tax brackets and rates, click -

 

'PILLAGING'

 

"Today the Republicans take their victory lap for successfully pillaging the American middle class to benefit the powerful and the privileged," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said.

 

Opinion polls show the tax bill is unpopular with the public and Democrats promised to make Republicans pay for their vote during next year's congressional elections, when all 435 House seats and 34 of the 100 Senate seats will be up for grabs.

 

"Republicans will rue the day they passed this bill," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. "We are going to continue hammering away about why this bill is so unpopular."

 

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan defended the bill, saying support would grow for after it passes and Americans felt relief. "I think minds are going to change," Ryan said on ABC's "Good Morning America" television programme.

 

A few Republicans, a party once defined by fiscal hawkishness, have protested the deficit spending encompassed in the bill. But most voted for it anyway, saying it would help businesses and individuals while boosting an already expanding economy they see as not growing fast enough.

 

In the House, 12 Republicans voted against the tax bill. All but one, Walter Jones of North Carolina, were from the high-tax states of New York, New Jersey and California, which will be hit by the bill's cap on deductions for state and local taxes.

 

Despite Trump administration promises that the tax overhaul would focus on the middle class and not cut taxes for the rich, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a think tank in Washington, estimated middle-income households would see an average tax cut of $900 next year under the bill, while the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans would see an average cut of $51,000.

 

The House was forced to vote again after the Senate parliamentarian ruled three minor provisions violated arcane Senate rules. To proceed, the Senate deleted the three provisions and then approved the bill.

 

Since the House and Senate must approve the same legislation before Trump can sign it into law, the Senate's vote sent the bill back to the House.

 

For a graphic on U.S. debt level since 1950, click -

 

For a graphic on how the bill ripples through industries, click - http://tmsnrt.rs/2kf26gx

 

(Reporting by David Morgan and Amanda Becker; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Roberta Rampton, Gina Chon, Mohammad Zargham and Susan Heavey; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-21

[thaibeachlovers]

[blazes]

What is shocking is the hypocrisy of people like Rubio, whose vote was bought so easily when he threw his toys out of the pram.  Ditto the others who pretended to protest in order to win a few scraps from the table.

 

In short, not a single Republican senator wanted to be identified,  by the billionaire lobbyists, come the next election, as one of those who prevented this giveaway to the rich.  They voted to save their skins and taxpayer-paid pensions.

The swamp remains, waiting to be drained.....

[simple1]

This is the individual some posters celebrate....

 

First take in the fact that Trump thinks (and is proud of!) the flawed idea that the tax bill sneakily repealed what Republicans were unable to do directly. He thinks he was able to slip it into the bill by not talking about it. And he's proud of the idea -- which is incorrect -- that he tricked everyone.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/20/politics/donald-trump-thinks-he-tricked-everyone-into-repealing-obamacare/index.html

[Thaidream]

The more this circus continues, the more I am convinced that Trump has no idea what he is doing or that he even understands what is in these bills.  Obamacare still exists- it is only the individual mandate which is being repealed.  It is estimated that this lack of funding will throw 13,000,000 Americans off the insurance rolls.

The tax bill is horrid- does nothing for the middle class or poor and certainly nothing for seniors who suffer under the constant increase in health costs with rising insurance premiums and a miniscule increase in their pension.

The Republicans know that the federal deficit will soar another $1 Trillion because of this bill and they now have the utter audacity to try and get this money back by limiting medicare, medicaid and social security.

Talk about Robin Hood in reverse- Trump ad his minions steal from the poor and give to the rich.   Total insanity involved on the Trump Train.

[rudi49jr]

'delivering victory to Trump'.

That is exactly right: Trump and his clan stand to gain 1,1 billion dollars from this new tax bill, and many of his rich buddies will also get a lot richer. The national deficit will soar and guess who's going to pay for that?

[lostlink]

WINNING!

[lostlink]

Also included : INVESTING IN OPPORTUNITY ACT

 

WINNING!

[rudi49jr]

3 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

'delivering victory to Trump'.

That is exactly right: Trump and his clan stand to gain 1,1 billion dollars from this new tax bill, and many of his rich buddies will also get a lot richer. The national deficit will soar and guess who's going to pay for that?

And he keeps lying about it as well, claiming it’s going to cost him a lot of money and that all his rich friends hate him. Nothing is further from the truth, though, as Trump and all the other millionaires and billionaires are going to profit obscenely from the new tax bill. But then again Trump is a pathological liar, he simply can not not lie.

[lannarebirth]

12 hours ago, simple1 said:

This is the individual some posters celebrate....

 

First take in the fact that Trump thinks (and is proud of!) the flawed idea that the tax bill sneakily repealed what Republicans were unable to do directly. He thinks he was able to slip it into the bill by not talking about it. And he's proud of the idea -- which is incorrect -- that he tricked everyone.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/20/politics/donald-trump-thinks-he-tricked-everyone-into-repealing-obamacare/index.html

 

Without the penalty attached to the individual mandate Obamacare will not remain in force more than a few years IMO. Hopefully that realization will bring about something better than Obamacare, but maybe it won't. The lesson to be learned, which won't be of course; is don't vote into law unfunded mandates that are not inclusive of the entire population. When you pick winners and losers the losers will get their revenge, in time.

[lannarebirth]

5 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

'delivering victory to Trump'.

That is exactly right: Trump and his clan stand to gain 1,1 billion dollars from this new tax bill, and many of his rich buddies will also get a lot richer. The national deficit will soar and guess who's going to pay for that?

 

How do you know what he will gain if no one's ever seen his tax returns? One area I would think he'd lose out is in the cap on state and local property/income tax deductions. That is going to put downward pressure on valuations therefore sale prices for high value properties for sale in those states. I think he operates in many of those states. It's all conjecture without seeing his returns.

[ilostmypassword]

4 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

How do you know what he will gain if no one's ever seen his tax returns? One area I would think he'd lose out is in the cap on state and local property/income tax deductions. That is going to put downward pressure on valuations therefore sale prices for high value properties for sale in those states. I think he operates in many of those states. It's all conjecture without seeing his returns.

Virtually all his businesses are pass-throughs.

In addition to that there are special provisions that massively favor real estate interests.

The odds are overwhelming that he will gain from the tax bill.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/12/20/new-tax-plan-make-trumps-family-richer-experts-say-heres-how/970834001/

[Scott]

A post with an inflammatory remark has been removed.   Continue and receive a suspension.  

[simple1]

5 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

Without the penalty attached to the individual mandate Obamacare will not remain in force more than a few years IMO. Hopefully that realization will bring about something better than Obamacare, but maybe it won't. The lesson to be learned, which won't be of course; is don't vote into law unfunded mandates that are not inclusive of the entire population. When you pick winners and losers the losers will get their revenge, in time.

From reading media analysis, the poor working class will lose their miserable annual tax refund, US$75.00, by way of increased cost for health cover and those in the lower middle class will lose half their pittance of a tax refund due to increased medical insurance over.

 

Here in Australia the top international companies generating $750 billion in revenue pay no tax whatsoever due to their global business structures. I would assume the equivalent occurs in many other countries. Let's see how the legislation actually plays out in the coming few years for the USA. It does seem to me than an enormous amount of BS baffles brains is emanating from Trump and his truly appalling Republican sycophants.

[twig]

ALL government gang spending worldwide that is not coercion-financed is "debt-financed".

 

So, my view is that ALL the money the government gang coerces from businesses/corporations is in one way or another passed on to those businesses' customers.

 

So, corporate "taxes" are extortion from ALL  consumers in every individual theft bracket. And lower government gang theft from businesses is some relief from such theft for all consumers.

 

56% of United Plantations revenue comes from 4.3% of individual government gang theft victims:

https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2017/january/federal-income-taxes-bracket

 

So, seems fair to me that they get most of the "tax cuts" in the Land of Opportunists, even though I'm not one of them.

 

Edited December 22, 2017 by twig
correction

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, ilostmypassword said:

Virtually all his businesses are pass-throughs.

In addition to that there are special provisions that massively favor real estate interests.

The odds are overwhelming that he will gain from the tax bill.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/12/20/new-tax-plan-make-trumps-family-richer-experts-say-heres-how/970834001/

 

Well that basically describes my own situation. Between that and dropping the ACA mandate I do better. Take a bit of a hit on the state and local property/income tax cap but I think that was actually one of the only fair provisions in the law.  The expensing of capital goods will give a bit of a bump. I'd say in the next 12-18 months there will be some GDP and tax revenue growth from it and after that it reverses.

 

 

[ToS2014]

19 hours ago, simple1 said:

This is the individual some posters celebrate....

 

First take in the fact that Trump thinks (and is proud of!) the flawed idea that the tax bill sneakily repealed what Republicans were unable to do directly. He thinks he was able to slip it into the bill by not talking about it. And he's proud of the idea -- which is incorrect -- that he tricked everyone.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/20/politics/donald-trump-thinks-he-tricked-everyone-into-repealing-obamacare/index.html

The new bill that passed did not repeal the entire ACA.  It ended the individual mandate, that is the government cannot tell me that I must have a government schemed insurance.  I feel the government should not tell me, nor even get into the insurance market on a personal level.  To fix it, a good start would be to focus on the billions that the insurance companies make; just my humble opinion....and yea, I know it smells.

[ilostmypassword]

2 minutes ago, ToS2014 said:

The new bill that passed did not repeal the entire ACA.  It ended the individual mandate, that is the government cannot tell me that I must have a government schemed insurance.  I feel the government should not tell me, nor even get into the insurance market on a personal level.  To fix it, a good start would be to focus on the billions that the insurance companies make; just my humble opinion....and yea, I know it smells.

As has been repeatedly pointed out, the insurance mandate is necessary for this kind of program to work. And in every other country that uses a similar system the mandate exists. ANd the reason for this is simple. If you are going to make it mandatory for insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions then you need to have a large base of healthy people. Otherwise rates will be astronomical. ANd in fact, this is about to happen and all those people with pre-existing conditions are going to be might upset with their insurance bills which owe most of their recent rise  to Trump.

And soon it's going to get a lot worse.

[Coconutman]

These Companies Have Promised to Give Employees Bonuses Because the Tax Bill Passed

AT&T said it would give $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 employees in the U.S. once the tax bill is signed into law and promised to invest an additional $1 billion in the U.S. in 2018. 

 

Comcast is giving $1,000 bonuses to 100,000 “frontline and non-executive employees,” the company announced, citing the rollback of the FCC’s Obama-era net neutrality rules and the passage of the tax reform bill. CEO Brian Roberts also said the company expects to spend “well in excess of” $50 billion on infrastructure investment over the next five years.

Fifth Third Bankcorp

Fifth Third Bancorpsaid it would increase its hourly minimum wage to $15 for U.S. employees.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo said it would increase its minimum wage for U.S. employees from $13.50 to $15 and spend $400 million on donations to nonprofits and community organizations in 2018.

http://time.com/5074911/tax-reform-bill-company-investments-bonuses/

Edited December 22, 2017 by Coconutman

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

As has been repeatedly pointed out, the insurance mandate is necessary for this kind of program to work. And in every other country that uses a similar system the mandate exists. ANd the reason for this is simple. If you are going to make it mandatory for insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions then you need to have a large base of healthy people. Otherwise rates will be astronomical. ANd in fact, this is about to happen and all those people with pre-existing conditions are going to be might upset with their insurance bills which owe most of their recent rise  to Trump.

And soon it's going to get a lot worse.

IMO the problem with modern health industry is  that it is profit based, and not patient based. 

By not addressing the outrageous profits generated by insurance companies, and forcing everyone to subsidise insurance companies and not patients everyone except the insurance companies loses.

An NHS scheme is by far the best solution, but unfortunately even that allows administrators to waste money on buildings etc without providing a better service for patients. 

[ilostmypassword]

29 minutes ago, Coconutman said:

AT&T

AT&T said it would give $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 employees in the U.S. once the tax bill is signed into law and promised to invest an additional $1 billion in the U.S. in 2018.

 

Boeing

Boeing announced that it would spend $300 million on “employee-related and charitable investments” because of the tax plan.

 

Comcast

Comcast is giving $1,000 bonuses to 100,000 “frontline and non-executive employees

Fifth Third Bankcorp

Fifth Third Bancorpsaid it would increase its hourly minimum wage to $15 for U.S. employees.

Wells Fargo

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1. TAXES

These Companies Have Promised to Give Employees Bonuses Because the Tax Bill Passed

 

 

 

 

Play Video

By TIME STAFF 

December 21, 2017

Several companies announced new investments, minimum wage hikes and employee bonuses on Wednesday as a result of the passage of Republican tax reform bill, which is set to bring them significant tax cuts by lowering the corporate tax rate.

AT&T

AT&T said it would give $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 employees in the U.S. once the tax bill is signed into law and promised to invest an additional $1 billion in the U.S. in 2018. CEO Randall Stephenson praised the tax legislation as “a monumental step to bring taxes paid by U.S. businesses in line with the rest of the industrialized world.”

Trump praised AT&T’s announcement in remarks at the White House. “That’s because of what we did,” he said. “So that’s pretty good. That’s pretty good.” AT&T is currently awaiting approval from Trump’s Justice Department of its pending $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner.

 

Boeing

Boeing announced that it would spend $300 million on “employee-related and charitable investments” because of the tax plan. “The reforms enable us to better compete on the world stage and give us a stronger foundation for the investment in innovation, facilities and skills that will support our long-term growth,” CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement.

 

Comcast

Comcast is giving $1,000 bonuses to 100,000 “frontline and non-executive employees,” the company announced, citing the rollback of the FCC’s Obama-era net neutrality rules and the passage of the tax reform bill. CEO Brian Roberts also said the company expects to spend “well in excess of” $50 billion on infrastructure investment over the next five years.

Fifth Third Bankcorp

Fifth Third Bancorpsaid it would increase its hourly minimum wage to $15 for U.S. employees.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo said it would increase its minimum wage for U.S. employees from $13.50 to $15 and spend $400 million on donations to nonprofits and community organizations in 2018.

I can't believe anybody takes bonus money as a significant indicator of future trends. If these various companies announced a raise of 1000 per year that would be different. In addition, how many workers for these companies make less than 15 dollars per hour? It would be impressive if MacDonalds made such an announcement.

Now it used to be that big companies like AT&T directly employed janitorial staff and such and that these people were paid better and treated better. But now all that kind of thing is outsourced to low paying contractors.. And those workers aren't going to be getting a raise or a bonus from these corporations.

[FritsSikkink]

On ‎21‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 11:27 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

For the big companies , yes:

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

7 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

For the big companies , yes:

 

 

I can't believe that I used to support Bernie. He is coming across as a bitter loser now. A statesman accepts defeat and moves on, but the Bern has lost the plot. The person he should be mad at is HRC who colluded with the DNC to deny him the nomination.

 

BTW, if big companies don't employ people in the US who does? I'd say healthy companies are the entities to bring prosperity to the workers( at least till they automate and sack everyone, but that's a different thread ).

[thaibeachlovers]

44 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

I can't believe anybody takes bonus money as a significant indicator of future trends. If these various companies announced a raise of 1000 per year that would be different. In addition, how many workers for these companies make less than 15 dollars per hour? It would be impressive if MacDonalds made such an announcement.

Now it used to be that big companies like AT&T directly employed janitorial staff and such and that these people were paid better and treated better. But now all that kind of thing is outsourced to low paying contractors.. And those workers aren't going to be getting a raise or a bonus from these corporations.

No sane company management is going to raise wages till they see if things are actually going to get better. Too early for that, one day after the vote, but you knew that, didn't you?

 

If you want to raise workers wages vote for socialism. Capitalists will never pay more than they have to.

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No sane company management is going to raise wages till they see if things are actually going to get better. Too early for that, one day after the vote, but you knew that, didn't you?

 

If you want to raise workers wages vote for socialism. Capitalists will never pay more than they have to.

 

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I can't believe that I used to support Bernie. He is coming across as a bitter loser now. A statesman accepts defeat and moves on, but the Bern has lost the plot. The person he should be mad at is HRC who colluded with the DNC to deny him the nomination.

 

BTW, if big companies don't employ people in the US who does? I'd say healthy companies are the entities to bring prosperity to the workers( at least till they automate and sack everyone, but that's a different thread ).

Do you see the contradiction between these 2 statements of yours? It's glaringly obvious.

[ToS2014]

6 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

As has been repeatedly pointed out, the insurance mandate is necessary for this kind of program to work. And in every other country that uses a similar system the mandate exists. ANd the reason for this is simple. If you are going to make it mandatory for insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions then you need to have a large base of healthy people. Otherwise rates will be astronomical. ANd in fact, this is about to happen and all those people with pre-existing conditions are going to be might upset with their insurance bills which owe most of their recent rise  to Trump.

And soon it's going to get a lot worse.

I didn't know when it was my duty to pay for insurance to cover others.  Just glad the gov't told me to do so; well, not now.

[mrwebb8825]

On 12/21/2017 at 8:24 AM, webfact said:

Despite Trump administration promises that the tax overhaul would focus on the middle class and not cut taxes for the rich, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a think tank in Washington, estimated middle-income households would see an average tax cut of $900 next year under the bill, while the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans would see an average cut of $51,000.

Do these idiots ever study math? $900 to a person that earns $75,000 per year is a hell of a lot more beneficial than $51,000 is to a person that earns $100,000,000+ per year.

[ilostmypassword]

49 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

Do these idiots ever study math? $900 to a person that earns $75,000 per year is a hell of a lot more beneficial than $51,000 is to a person that earns $100,000,000+ per year.

Here's something of what what "these idiots" found:

"The Tax Policy Center found that 83 percent of the tax cuts in 2027 would go to the top 1 percent, as Vox’s Dylan Matthews covered Monday, up from 62 percent in the bill previously passed by the Senate.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/12/20/16790606/gop-tax-vote-2017-income-inequality

 

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, mrwebb8825 said:

Do these idiots ever study math? $900 to a person that earns $75,000 per year is a hell of a lot more beneficial than $51,000 is to a person that earns $100,000,000+ per year.

Right, which is why I don't understand why they lowered the top rate. The amount they get back is insignificant to the wealthy, so why not leave it as it was? I guess it's more to do with ideology than sense though.

All they achieved by doing so was to give the Dems a stick to beat them with.

The biggest thing I regret though, is that they kept 7 brackets instead of making it 3, as was suggested, and I can't understand why they start the lowest bracket at $1 when they then give a tax break of $10,000 or something. Why not just start the lowest bracket at $10,000?

[lostlink]

The bill s now signed.  WINNING!