Thursday morning, after Donald Trump was done making up for a little lost time on Twitter and in between rounds of golf, he squeezed in one last self-congratulatory tweet that had the internet first scratching its collective head, then laughing its collective ass off. Continue reading “Trump gets shredded on Twitter for claiming yet another of Obama’s accomplishments”
It’s been a while since America has seen an epic refusal to concede. Usually the worst that happens following a closely-contested race like the one Doug Jones just won in Alabama is that the loser gives a rather salty speech and moves on. Continue reading “A river called denial”
Rep. Francis Rooney (FL) is a major Republican donor and a freshman Congressman who’s a member of the ultra-right Republican Study committee. He appeared on MSNBC with Hallie Jackson this morning, and her facial expressions are something to see. Continue reading “Hallie Jackson’s face is priceless as GOP rep says FBI, DoJ is ‘off the rails’”
Russian leader Vladimir Putin is manipulating President Donald Trump like a skilled intelligence operative, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Monday. Clapper was discussing calls between Trump and Putin in recent days, when the two discussed North Korea and a foiled terrorist plot in St. Continue reading “Former intel chief: Putin using Trump like an ‘asset’”
Thank heavens. This guy was a completely unprepared and unqualified mess — much like Trump:
The nomination of Brett Talley, the Justice Department official in line for a lifetime judicial appointment, “will not be moving forward,” a Trump administration official told NPR Wednesday.
Talley had been rated “unanimously unqualified” for the post by the American Bar Association this year after an evaluation that questioned his experience. Talley had never argued a case, or even a motion, in federal court, he testified.
Even after Talley’s nomination advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee on an 11-to-9 party-line vote, media reports and good government groups cast doubt on his credentials for the spot on the U.S. District Court in Alabama, along with raising questions about his alleged failures to disclose blog posts and his wife’s work in the Trump White House.
Talley, a Harvard Law School graduate, came to personify a wave of criticism over the Trump administration’s judicial selections.
During another press pool spray of Trump showing off his autograph, CNN’s Jim Acosta was ignored by Donald when he asked what he meant by his sexually suggestive and offensive tweet to Sen. Gillibrand. As Trump was departing, Acosta asked, “Mr. President, what did you mean when you said that Kirsten Gillibrand would do anything for… Continue reading “CNN reporter defies Huckabee Sanders threat, asks Trump about offensive tweet”
Morning Joe regulars expressed concern over Trump’s obvious difficulties during his Jerusalem speech yesterday. They did a compare and contrast with an appearance he made on the Today show in 1987, in which he was coherent and fluent. Steve Schmidt said it was worse if you listened on the radio. “He’s clearly slurring his words. I… Continue reading “Steve Schmidt on Trump speech: ‘That impairment is chilling’”
As Jared Kushner leads the U.S. government’s effort to develop an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, the Kushner Companies Charitable Foundation is funding a hardline Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Continue reading “Kushner by day: Mideast peace. Kushner companies by night: donating to a West Bank settlement”
President Donald Trump has announced that the US formally recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will begin the process of moving its embassy to the city, breaking with decades of US policy. Continue reading “Trump ignores warnings with ‘reckless Jerusalem move’”
Poor corporations. The moral is, let everyone see the drafts and hold hearings! See what happens when you rush?
This screwup — like most of the tax plan’s oddest features — was born of a math problem. Due to arcane Senate rules, the Trump tax cuts can only add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. Last Thursday, the Senate tax bill already cost about that sum, and then McConnell started making expensive promises to his few holdouts. Susan Collins wanted a $10,000 property tax deduction for Americans in high-tax states; Ron Johnson wanted a 23 percent business-income deduction for the company that his family owns. This left the Senate Majority Leader searching under the tax code’s couch cushions for new sources of revenue.
Eventually, he came upon the corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT). At present, most corporations face a 35 percent (statutory) rate on their income. But by availing themselves of various tax credits and deductions, most companies can get their actual rates down far below that figure. To put a limit on just how far, the corporate AMT prevents companies from paying any less than 20 percent on their profits (or, more precisely, on the profits that they fail to hide overseas).
The GOP had originally intended to abolish the AMT. But on Friday, with the clock running out — and money running short — Senate Republicans put the AMT back into their bill. Unfortunately for McConnell, they forgot to lower the AMT after doing so.
This is a big problem. The Senate bill brings the normal corporate rate down to 20 percent — while leaving the alternative minimum rate at … 20 percent. The legislation would still allow corporations to claim a wide variety of tax credits and deductions — it just renders all them completely worthless. Companies can either take no deductions, and pay a 20 percent rate — or take lots of deductions … and pay a 20 percent rate.
With this blunder, Senate Republicans have achieved the unthinkable: They’ve written a giant corporate tax cut that many of their corporate donors do not like.
