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Trump Signals Beginning of Promised Tax Overhaul

<p>President Trump is getting ready to reveal the beginnings of a tax cut plan he says will provide the biggest tax cuts in our nation&rsquo&semi;s history&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>White House officials have already told us that his plan will lower the top corporate income tax rate from 35&percnt; to 15&percnt;&period; An official with knowledge of the plan said the top tax rate for small businesses owners would also be reduced to 15&percnt;&period; The top rate for individuals will be reduced to the mid-30s&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Trump&rsquo&semi;s tax plan also includes child-care benefits aimed to help low- and middle-income families &ndash&semi; a cause championed by his daughter Ivanka &ndash&semi; and a significant increase in standard deductions for individuals and families&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Republicans seem open to Trump&&num;8217&semi;s plan&comma; hoping that it will spur economic growth and thus reduce any drop in tax revenue&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;I&rsquo&semi;m not convinced that cutting taxes is necessarily going to blow a hole in the deficit&comma;&rdquo&semi; admits Utah Senator Orrin Hatch&comma; Chairman of the Finance Committee&period; &ldquo&semi;I actually believe it could stimulate the economy and get the economy moving&period; Now&comma; whether 15&percnt; is the right figure or not&comma; that&rsquo&semi;s a matter to be determined&period;&rdquo&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Others worry the plan will add trillions to the national debt&period; On Tuesday&comma; the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation said that even temporary tax cuts for corporations would contribute to the deficit&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Investment strategist Ed Yardeni worries about the &ldquo&semi;special interests&&num;8221&semi; involved in crafting a new tax plan&period; &ldquo&semi;This is going to be a real test of whether he&rsquo&semi;s going to be able to drain the swamp or whether he&rsquo&semi;s going to pump more water in&period;&rdquo&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Hatch and others attended a Republicans-only meeting on Tuesday to discuss Trump&rsquo&semi;s tax plan with the president&rsquo&semi;s top lieutenants&period; GOP lawmakers are currently working under a budget maneuver called &ldquo&semi;reconciliation&rdquo&semi; that would allow to them to pass tax legislation without Democratic votes&comma; but only if it doesn&rsquo&semi;t increase the deficit outside of the 10-year budget window&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>In other words&comma; tax cuts that cause a decrease in revenue would either need Democratic support or they would need to have an expiration date&period; &nbsp&semi;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;Regretfully we don&rsquo&semi;t expect to have any Democratic involvement in&rdquo&semi; the tax overhaul&comma; said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell&period; &ldquo&semi;So we&rsquo&semi;ll have to reach an agreement among ourselves&period;&rdquo&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Democrats site previous attempts by Republican lawmakers to decrease the national debt&comma; and call them hypocrites for failing to address it now that they are in charge&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;I&rsquo&semi;m particularly struck by how some of this seems to be turning on its head Republican economic theory&comma;&rdquo&semi; said Oregon Senator Ron Wyden&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;There&rsquo&semi;s no question we should try to reduce &lpar;the corporate tax rate&rpar;&comma; but I don&rsquo&semi;t see how you pay for getting it down that low&comma;&rdquo&semi; said Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey&period; &ldquo&semi;Fifteen percent&comma; that&rsquo&semi;s a huge hole if you can&rsquo&semi;t make the math work&period;&rdquo&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Trump Administration&nbsp&semi;says that tax reform and new trade regulations&nbsp&semi;could push economic growth above 3&percnt;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;There&rsquo&semi;s no reason that we should not be able to hit that &ndash&semi; if not beat it&comma;&rdquo&semi; said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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