Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Trump At Odds With House, Senate On Giving Steeper Tax Cuts To Wealthy

Kevin Freking And Marcy Gordon · Monday, November 13, 2017, 12:18 pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday barged into congressional Republicans’ carefully calibrated work on revamping the nation’s tax code, calling for a steeper tax cut for wealthy Americans and pressing to add a contentious health care change to the mix.

In a tweet, Trump commended GOP leaders for getting the tax overhaul legislation closer to passage in recent weeks and said, “Cut top rate to 35% w/all of the rest going to middle income cuts?”

That puts him at odds with the House legislation that leaves the top rate at 39.6 percent and the Senate bill as written, with the top rate at 38.5 percent.

Trump also said, “Now how about ending the unfair & highly unpopular individual mandate in (Obama)care and reducing taxes even further?”

With few votes to spare, Republicans leaders hope to finalize a tax overhaul by Christmas and send the legislation to Trump for his signature. House leaders have compromised with some rank-and-file Republicans in hopes of passing their version of the bill this week. The Senate Finance Committee starts work on its legislation on Monday afternoon.

Trump’s tweet injects a degree of uncertainty in the process as the GOP tries to deliver on the president’s top legislative priority and hold onto their majorities in next year’s midterm elections.

Read more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-steeper-tax-cut-clashes-house-senate

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