Donald Trump “backtracked on his remarks about raising taxes on wealthy Americans, saying the rich might simply get a smaller tax cut than he originally proposed,” Reuters reports.
Said Trump: “I’m not talking about a tax increase. I’m talking about a tremendous tax decrease, OK? I’m not talking a raise from where they are now; I’m talking about a raise from my low proposal.”
First Read: “Donald Trump’s recent declaration that taxes for the wealthy should increase is an amazing turn of events in this presidential campaign and for the Republican Party. For starters, it’s a jaw-dropping flip-flop on policy.”
“But Trump’s position on taxes isn’t merely a policy flip-flop; it runs counter to today’s entire Republican Party and conservative movement. Think about if a Democratic presidential nominee called for repealing Obamacare, or admitted, ‘You know what — I think George W. Bush’s Iraq war was the right call after all.’ Folks, those things are the equivalent of your 2016 presumptive GOP presidential nominee calling for higher taxes on the rich. In our lifetime of covering politics, the position of almost every elected Republican politician has been that lower tax rates, including for the well-off, is the key to economic prosperity, and that any tax hike on the rich is to be opposed at all costs.”
“And so you can see how Trump’s position on taxes could make it hard for restoring unity with key Republicans, especially with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is an ardent tax-cutter.”
Donald Trump said that taxes “for the wealthy should go up but that his tax plans would likely be renegotiated with Congress should he win the U.S. presidency,” Reuters reports.
Said Trump: “For the wealthy I think frankly it is going to go up and, you know what, it really should go up.”
He added that he sees his current tax plans as a negotiating “floor” that may change in dealings with Congress.
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Speaker Paul Ryan “is meeting with House Freedom Caucus members late Tuesday night as an uprising simmers in the conservative rank-and-file over government spending levels and increased deficits,” Politico reports.
“The late-night ‘budget and beer’ get-together, which is being hosted by Ryan in his Capitol office, is intended to discuss House Republican spending plans. Just before that meeting, the Freedom Caucus will privately meet without Ryan, according to several sources with knowledge of the gathering.”
Gov. Chris Christie had a “read my lips” moment on the campaign trail in Iowa, Bloomberg reports.
Said Christie: “I will not raise taxes on the American people because we’re already over-taxed.”
“Lawmakers say passage of a major tax deal has increased the chances that Congress will tackle tax reform in 2017,” The Hill reports.
“The $680 billion tax bill approved last week gives hopes for reform a major boost, supporters say, by altering the budget baseline in a way that could make it easier to lower the 35 percent corporate tax rate — one of the highest in the world. Reducing that rate has long been a goal for Republicans, who argue it makes the U.S. less competitive on the global stage. In addition, few corporations actually pay the 35 percent rate because of tax breaks throughout the system.”
“In essence, not voting for it, is a vote against it.”
— Sen. Marco Rubio, when asked by CBS News why he criticized the recently passed omnibus spending bill but didn’t show up for the vote.
Sen. Marco Rubio “missed Friday’s Senate vote approving a massive $1.8 trillion end-of-the-year spending bill and tax package — a day after he suggested that he would try to slow the legislation down,” The Hill reports.
“The Florida Republican, who is running for president, was the only 2016 contender to miss the vote, which is the Senate’s final vote of the year.”
Asked if she’s “confident” the compromise spending package will win enough Democratic votes to move through the lower chamber, The Hill reports House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi didn’t pause for a second.
Said Pelosi: “No. We’re talking it through.”
“Congressional negotiators introduced a sweeping year-end spending and tax-break package early Wednesday that busts through previously agreed budget limits with $66 billion in new spending for 2016 and that makes permanent an array of tax benefits at a cost of adding more than a half-trillion dollars to the deficit,” the New York Times reports.
“While Republican leaders in Congress characterized the year-end package as representing a hard-fought compromise that would keep the government open and provide large-scale investment and tax breaks, it poses a challenge for Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, who had promised a more open and inclusive legislative process.”
Congressional leaders reached a tentative deal Tuesday night on a $1.1 trillion spending bill that would end the threat of a year-end government shutdown and fund federal agencies through most of 2016, USA Today reports.
The news was announced during the middle of the Republican debate last night.
Said Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI): “We didn’t win everything we wanted. Democrats got some things they wanted. So that’s the nature of compromises in divided government. But all told, we’ll make sure that we keep government funded and that we advance some of our priorities and, namely, that’s to create jobs.”
“Congressional leaders were nearing agreement on a $1.15 trillion spending bill and year-end tax legislation Monday, but were still haggling over a handful of thorny policy issues,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Politico: “The discussions — which are being led by Speaker Paul Ryan — are remarkably different in tenor than end-of-year budget debates of the past. Capitol Hill is not in hysteria, and Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are swapping offers without the typical finger-pointing and brinkmanship that has characterized previous versions of these debates.”
The White House “accused Republicans of threatening a government shutdown by attaching dozens of controversial riders to a must-pass spending bill,” The Hill reports.
Said White House press secretary Josh Earnest: “Congressional Republicans are whistling past the graveyard of a government shutdown.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) “strategy for avoiding a government shutdown is taking shape, with his leadership team seeking a clean break from the divisive intraparty warfare that plagued John Boehner’s (R-OH) tenure,” The Hill reports.
“GOP leaders on Monday predicted there would be no shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding and made clear that they expect an omnibus package to be approved with Democratic support before money runs out on Dec. 11.”
Donald Trump said that Republicans should have threatened to close the government during recent budget negotiations with President Obama, Business Insider reports.
Said Trump: “They’re horrible poker players. Horrible.”
He added: “By the way, in 50 years from now, nobody is going to know about Boehner or Ryan or any of these guys if the government closes for a little while. They’re going to know about Barack Hussein Obama. That’s who they’re going to know about. That’s who they’re going to know about.”
“Congressional leaders face several hurdles to getting a budget deal done by the Dec. 11 deadline, including a fight over health funding that is holding up the omnibus spending package,” The Hill reports.
“There’s also a battle brewing over dozens of policy riders aimed at Wall Street and environmental regulations that Republicans insist should be included in the legislation but Democrats warn could lead to a government shutdown. Some Republicans also want to add language blocking President Obama’s refugee resettlement program, which would be a non-starter with Democrats, but GOP leaders are reluctant at this point to pursue that path.”
Politico: “On Dec. 11, Obama administration diplomats will be in Paris working to clinch a global climate deal that will hinge on whether they can back up a pledge to provide billions of dollars to help poor countries deal with climate change. That same day, Republicans back in Washington will be trying to hold that money hostage with a government shutdown hanging in the balance.”
“Congress must pass a new spending bill by Dec. 11, when a stopgap measure expires. The simultaneous deadlines on each side of the Atlantic Ocean give Republicans a tool to derail a legacy-defining pact for the president and score a rare victory on climate policy. They also significantly raise the stakes in this year’s game of shutdown chicken.”
Wonk Wire: Republican candidates receive failing grade on climate change
House Speaker Paul Ryan “struck a confrontational stance with the Obama administration Tuesday, setting the stage for showdowns over domestic spending and national security matters as Congress works to wrap up business for the year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Ryan’s stance injects suspense into the passage of spending legislation, which already includes agreed upon overall funding levels. Congress late last month reached a deal with the White House boosting spending by $80 billion during the next two years and increasing the federal government’s borrowing limit until mid-March 2017.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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