Associated Press:
Promising big tax cuts and a booming economy, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans unveiled the first major revamp of the nation’s tax code in a generation Wednesday — a sweeping, nearly $6 trillion tax cut that would deeply reduce levies for corporations, simplify everyone’s brackets and nearly double the standard deduction used by most Americans.Republicans love to cut taxes, even though that isn't our government's problem. To paraphrase James Carville, "It's the spending, stupid." The spending is what hits the economy right between the eyes, not the taxes. If the taxes are more than the spending, then the taxes are the problem, but that hasn't been the case for many decades.
Trump declared repeatedly the plan would provide badly needed tax relief for the middle class. But there are too many gaps in the proposal to know how it actually would affect individual taxpayers and families, how it would be paid for and how much it might add to the soaring $20 trillion national debt.
The reason for this is simple: Government overspending has to be financed, and this creates new government bonds, which most big money investors will buy long before they will put money into the more risky venture capital opportunities. But it is also those risky venture capital opportunities which grow the economy in the long term. In other words, government overspending kills capitalism and the free market economy.
By the way, there is also a little political dagger in this tax cut plan for the Democrats:
Los Angeles Times:
Many Californians face a big financial hit under the Republican tax plan, which would eliminate a major tax break that benefits state residents more than those anywhere else in the U.S.From the Tax Foundation:
The federal deduction for state and local taxes allowed Californians to reduce their taxable income by $101 billion in 2014, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
You will notice the big hit in most of the so-called "blue states", which are dominated by Democrats.
Before this debate is over, expect the Democrats to be accusing this plan of doing everything short of clubbing babies.
In other news...
Fox News:
Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine, died Wednesday at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, surrounded by loved ones, the magazine said in a statement.This blog won't take a position on the virtue/vice of Hefner. But it is safe to say that he impacted more than one generation of young people.
He was 91. He died of from natural causes, the statement read.
With a bon vivant philosophy, urbane sophistication and sheer marketing brilliance, Hefner was an icon for the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the man-about-town embodiment of the lifestyle he promoted with gusto and a sly wink to readers.
Asked by the New York Times in 1992 of what he was proudest, Hefner responded: "That I changed attitudes toward sex. That nice people can live together now. That I decontaminated the notion of premarital sex. That gives me great satisfaction."
But he did get at least one thing undeniably right:
After a round of celebrity cheating by Tiger Woods and Jesse James was exposed, Hefner summed up his own attitude: "I had a lot of girlfriends, but it's not the same as cheating. I don't cheat. I am very open about what I do. ... I think that when you are in a relationship, you should be honest. The real immorality of infidelity is the lying."
THERESA MAY threatened to blacklist Boeing after America put over 4,000 UK jobs at risk in a bitter trade dispute.Sorry Britain. You started this mess, so you get the world's smallest violin:
And the PM's Cabinet colleagues from Boris Johnson to Defence Secretary Michael Fallon waded in as the row risked turning into a fierce transatlantic spat.The US Department of Commerce sparked outrage by warning it could slap a punitive 220 per cent tariff on the jets made by Anglo-Canadian group Bombardier, one of Northern Ireland’s biggest employers.
It followed a complaint by Boeing that Bombardier was benefiting from illegal state aid.
But a furious Theresa May hit back by saying she was "bitterly disappointed".
And she said Boeing's relationship with the Government was being "undermined".
In a warning to the US giant, she said: "We are very clear about the importance of Bombardier and the importance of those jobs in Northern Ireland.
"And we will be doing everything we can to ensure that we can see those jobs being guaranteed in the future."
Seriously though, Britain should know better. When companies dump products in other countries, whether it is steel or airplanes, these actions have consequences. Just because we are friends with you doesn't give you the right to screw us.
Right now, they are worried about Bombardier jobs. How many American aerospace jobs have already been lost because of Bombardier's actions? Actually, Britain deserves one more award:
Newsweek:
President Donald Trump has made it clear his administration isn't planning to allow any additional outside aid to get into Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria.It is one thing for the government to perform acts of charity. It is another for the government to openly interfere with acts of charity. This is a case of the latter.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday afternoon, the president cited business interests as the reason for refusing calls from lawmakers and activists to allow international organizations and governments to ship aid to the island.
Trump said he was initially considering whether to implement a temporary waiver of the Jones Act to allow it, but decided against doing so as "a lot of people that work in the shipping industry…don’t want the Jones Act lifted."
Also called the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act requires all goods shipped between American ports to be on ships built, owned and operated in the United States.
The refusal to work with intergovernmental networks eager to supply aid to the devastated island was then echoed by Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. "Based on consultation with other federal agencies," spokesman David Lapan said Wednesday, "DHS's current assessment is that there is sufficient numbers of U.S.-flagged vessels to move commodities to Puerto Rico."
The department did waive the Jones Act to aid Houston and parts of Florida that were ravaged by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Senator John McCain, who has repeatedly fought to repeal the act, slammed the Department of Homeland Security for failing to extend the same relief efforts to Puerto Rico that it provided to parts of the mainland United States.
The worst part of this is that shipping is the best way to get significant aid to Puerto Rico, whereas Houston and Florida could have easily received more aid over land. And yet the Jones Act was waived for the two areas in the continental U.S., but not for the island protectorate where it is more shipping is desperately needed?
And finally today...
Sporting News:
With President Donald Trump's attacks against protesting NFL players still reverberating, the league's TV partners decided to air live coverage of the national anthem before Week 3 games. Those partners left out a key element of the coverage: crowd shots of angry fans.This is selective reporting, where details that could influence a story's interpretation are intentionally left out so as to influence the reader/viewer's opinion of the story.
Networks typically do not televise the national anthem except for the Super Bowl and other special occasions, but they recognized there would be intense viewer interest this past weekend.
Some fans, if they reacted at all, happily clapped and cheered during protests, but others did not, and they angrily let their home teams know it. The audio mics picked up the boos. Yet the TV networks mostly avoided crowd shots Sunday, so there was never a chance for viewers to see fans jeering players.
This is sadly typical of media coverage. Even when you think you are seeing something on tv, you may not be seeing everything.
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