Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) predicted in an interview with a Milwaukee radio station that tax overhaul legislation would pass in the House by “early November” and make it through the Senate to President Trump’s desk by the end of December, The Hill reports.

“Ryan expressed optimism that Republicans would have more success with tax reform than with their failed efforts to repeal and replace the 2010 health-care law.”

Axios: “Republicans haven’t introduced an actual bill yet, and Congress has a fairly full plate right now, from immigration to Iran to government funding for the rest of the year. There are 28 legislative days left in 2017.”

Mike Allen: “We’ve learned that after months of frosty distance, President Trump picked up the phone yesterday and called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — ahead of a week when they absolutely have to work together on a budget, or risk losing tax reform.”

“Well-wired Republicans privately think chances for tax cuts are still pretty bleak. If Trump and McConnell are able to patch things up even temporarily, Republicans have a better chance at avoiding an embarrassing legislative shutout that could imperil their majorities.”

“They need to get a budget done in the Senate this week. No budget, no tax reform. It’s that simple.”

“President Trump and Republican leaders have positioned a proposed repeal of the estate tax as a way to help farmers, ranchers and small business owners. But on Friday, Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, offered a significant concession about who would benefit the most if the so-called death tax disappears: the rich,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Mnuchin said the estate tax should be eliminated for both philosophical and economic reasons. He said that many taxpayers give the government half their income during their lives and that they should not have to give away a big chunk when they die — even if their families are wealthy.”

Said Mnuchin: “Obviously, the estate tax, I will concede, disproportionately helps rich people.”

“House Republicans are moving closer to keeping some form of the state and local tax deduction, and President Donald Trump isn’t standing in the way, signaling a possible breakthrough in an early spat over tax reform. Several lawmakers who huddled with GOP leaders Thursday indicated that the talks were going well,” Politico reports.

Wall Street Journal: “The aim, lawmakers say, is to keep the break for middle-income households while repealing it for higher-income households. One idea is to cut off the deduction for households whose incomes exceed a certain level. The challenge will be finding agreement on where that dividing line should be.”

Speaker Paul Ryan reaffirmed his threat to keep Congress in session through Christmas if they don’t meet their tax reform deadlines, Axios reports.

Said Ryan: “Half this country is living paycheck to paycheck and if it means we’ve got to stay here ’til Christmas to give them the relief they need and deserve, then tough we will do that.”

Stan Collender: “The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines committing fraud as the ‘intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value,’ and a fraud as ‘a person who is not what he or she pretends to be.'”

“When it comes to the federal budget, both of these definitions fit the GOP perfectly.”

“Contrary to what it still wants you to believe, the GOP — the political party that once supported “pay-as-you” go rules and balanced budget amendments to the U.S. Constitution and still routinely excoriates Democrats for what it says is their profligate ways — today is not the political party of fiscal responsibility and reduced deficits.”

“Actually, it’s not at all clear this is anything new.”

“The Republican Party has largely abandoned its platform of fiscal restraint, pivoting sharply in a way that could add trillions of dollars in federal debt over the next decade,” the Washington Post reports.

“Cutting spending to balance the budget was almost religion to the Republican Party for much of the past eight years. But all year long, despite their control of the White House and Congress, Republicans have not taken steps to balance the budget, to overhaul entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, or to arrest the growth of the country’s $20 trillion in debt.”

Charlie Cook: “So why are proponents so upbeat? My theory is that advocates see failure as unfathomable. On Wall Street and in corporate headquarters around the country, proponents have talked themselves (or their clients) into believing that tax reform is possible even though Congress has not passed a significant piece of legislation this year.”

“The truth is that reforming, streamlining, or simplifying the tax code is incredibly difficult under the best of circumstances, and circumstances today are worse than usual. Even passing a big tax cut, which sounds easy (who turns down free candy?), is problematic because it either drives up the deficit or shifts the tax burden to other payers.”

For members: Who Knew Tax Reform Could Be So Complicated?

“Senate Republicans are running into internal resistance to their proposed repeal of the estate tax, making it a potential casualty of the trade-offs the GOP faces in its effort to overhaul the tax code,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The party’s leaders included estate-tax repeal in the tax-overhaul framework they released last week. But Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Susan Collins (R-ME) said this that week repeal isn’t necessary. Others say their desire to eliminate the tax must be balanced against other priorities.”

“Republican leaders are backing away from a proposal to fully repeal an expensive tax break used by more than 40 million tax filers to deduct state and local taxes amid pushback from fellow lawmakers whose residents rely on the popular provision,” the New York Times reports.

“The state and local tax deduction is estimated to cost $1.3 trillion over the next decade and its repeal is central to paying for a sweeping tax rewrite unveiled last week by Republican lawmakers and administration officials. But elimination of the provision has emerged as a flash point in the nascent debate over the plan, with Republicans in high-tax states worried about backlash from residents who could see their tax bills rise.”

“The White House as soon as Wednesday will ask Congress to authorize almost $30 billion in new funding to address recent natural disasters, a senior administration official said, adding to the costly tally from three deadly hurricanes that have devastated Puerto Rico and parts of Texas and Florida in recent weeks,” the Washington Post reports.

“The funding request includes $12.77 billion in disaster recovery funds, $577 million to address wildfires, and $15 billion to fund the flood insurance program. It is not expected to seek budget cuts to offset the new spending.”