“The instinct that some Democrats have, which is born out of a sense of responsibility as the ‘governing’ party, is to explain exactly how you’re going to pay for everything and how it all adds up. It puts you at a total disadvantage because you’re already constraining your priorities.”

— Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), in an interview with NBC News.

“The Trump administration is considering bypassing Congress to grant a $100 billion tax cut mainly to the wealthy, a legally tenuous maneuver that would cut capital gains taxation and fulfill a long-held ambition of many investors and conservatives,” the New York Times reports.

“Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit meeting in Argentina this month that his department was studying whether it could use its regulatory powers to allow Americans to account for inflation in determining capital gains tax liabilities.”

Said Mnuchin: “If it can’t get done through a legislation process, we will look at what tools at Treasury we have to do it on our own and we’ll consider that.”

President Trump “reiterated his willingness Monday to allow the government to shut down this fall if he does not receive sufficient funding for border security but he declined to take a firm stance on the specific amount of money he would accept,” CNN reports.

Said Trump: “If we don’t get border security after many, many years of talk within the United States, I would have no problem doing a shutdown. It’s time we have proper border security. We’re the laughingstock of the world. We have the worst immigration laws anywhere in the world.”

“Some of the biggest winners from President Trump’s new tax law are corporate executives who have reaped gains as their companies buy back a record amount of stock, a practice that rewards shareholders by boosting the value of existing shares,” Politico reports.

“A Politico review of data disclosed in SEC filings shows the executives, who often receive most of their compensation in stock, have been profiting handsomely by selling shares since Trump signed the law on Dec. 22 and slashed corporate tax rates to 21 percent. That trend is likely to increase as Wall Street analysts expect buyback activity to accelerate in the coming weeks.”

President Trump “threatened to shut down the federal government if Congress does not pass sweeping changes to immigration laws, including appropriating more public money to build his long-promised border wall,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump’s threat raises the stakes ahead of a Sept. 30 government funding deadline, a political showdown before the November midterms that Republican congressional leaders had hoped to avoid.”

Playbook: “Republican leaders have been telling us for months that they think they’ve convinced Trump a shutdown is a bad idea. Clearly they have not. In fact, Trump seems to be broadening his demands. He is signaling he’ll demand immigration changes as part of the government funding bill. Government funding runs out 37 days before Election Day.”

“Some in Trump’s universe believe a shutdown would be a good base-rallying tactic.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan “presented a government spending strategy intended to minimize the threat of a politically debilitating government funding lapse over border wall funding. And Trump seemed receptive,” Politico reports.

“Trump made clear to the GOP leaders that he still wants a $5 billion down payment on his wall this year, but he signaled to the leaders that he might be willing to wage that fight after the midterms. Though the House plans to pass a spending bill giving Trump $5 billion for the wall, Senate Democrats are unlikely to agree to fund more than the $1.6 billion initially requested by the Trump administration — meaning any attempt to fund the Department of Homeland Security could lead to a shutdown.”

James Hohmann: “To be sure, Trump changes his mind all the time. And just because he agrees to something today does not mean he won’t change his mind tomorrow. He’s officially endorsed bills, for example, only to equivocate after seeing a negative segment on Fox News.”

“The amount of corporate taxes collected by the federal government has plunged to historically low levels in the first six months of the year, pushing up the federal budget deficit much faster than economists had predicted,” the New York Times reports.

“The reason is President Trump’s tax cuts. The law introduced a standard corporate rate of 21 percent, down from a high of 35 percent, and allowed companies to immediately deduct many new investments. As companies operate with lower taxes and a greater ability to reduce what they owe, the federal government is receiving far less than it would have before the overhaul.”

Stan Collender: “The deadline for Congress and President Donald Trump to come to an agreement that will avoid a government shutdown this fall — which may be a much more frequent threat and occurrence these days than it used to be but would still be anything but routine – is approaching quickly and neither the White House, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have done anything to make it less likely.”

”Because of that, because the time left to prevent it from happening is steadily dwindling and because the other must-do tasks Congress has left are still multiplying, the chances of a shutdown happening this year are greater now than they were even a few week ago.”

“House Republicans expect to vote on their tax plan in September, and one leading option is a three-bill package: Extension of expiring tax cuts, expansion of incentives for savings and policies to promote innovation,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The tax-cut extension, the largest of the three bills, is the one that is most likely to become a campaign-season talking point and also least likely to become law this year.”

“Even attempting a sure-to-fail vote carries risks for Senate Republicans, because a few Democrats up for re-election in states won by President Donald Trump could muddle the GOP’s campaign message against them by voting for middle-class tax cuts.”

David Leonhardt: “The top-earning 1 percent of households — those earning more than $607,000 a year — will pay a combined $111 billion less this year in federal taxes than they would have if the laws had remained unchanged since 2000. That’s an enormous windfall. It’s more, in total dollars, than the tax cut received over the same period by the entire bottom 60 percent of earners, according to an analysis being published today.”

“Think of it this way: Income inequality has soared in recent decades, with the wealthy pulling away from everyone else and the upper-middle-class doing better than the working class or poor. Yet our federal government has responded by aggravating these trends. It has handed huge tax cuts to the small segment of Americans who need those tax cuts the least.”

“A recently filed financial disclosure shows Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) celebrated passing the House version of the Republican tax bill in quite the lavish way,” Florida Politics reports.

“According to the disclosure, Buchanan spent between $1 million and $5 million purchasing an Ocean Alexander yacht on Nov. 16, 2017, the same day he joined 226 other Republicans and no Democrats in voting for the first draft of the ‘Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.’l

Stan Collender: “The specific issue that will trigger yet another federal government shutdown showdown this September will be Donald Trump’s seemingly pathological obsession with building a wall between the United States and Mexico.”

“First, Trump may see this as his last opportunity to get funding for his wall… Second, a Trump-induced shutdown this September over full funding for the wall may be perceived by the White House as the best immigration issue to inflame his base just before the midterm election… Third, Trump may look at the GOP congressional leadership’s strong desire to get its members home to campaign as increased leverage to get the full $25 billion.”

“Fourth, especially if his Supreme Court nominee is confirmed by the Senate and the economy remains strong, Trump may be feeling politically invincible this fall.”