McConnell hits brakes on tax reform, despite bullish Trump team

[corbe]

McConnell hits brakes on tax reform, despite bullish Trump team

Published March 10, 2017
FoxNews.com
 

Always the policy bridesmaid, tax reform once again is taking a back seat as Congress debates ObamaCare repeal legislation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday played down expectations that any tax package can be completed before the August recess, despite Trump administration vows to pursue “historic” legislation soon.

“I think finishing on tax reform will take longer,” the Kentucky Republican said in a Politico Playbook interview. “We do have to finish the health care debate … before we go to taxes.”

McConnell addressed the dual goals of health care and tax legislation as his party allies work feverishly on the House side to advance a newly released replacement for the Affordable Care Act, amid bipartisan criticism.

While that, too, is a top Trump priority, the president’s team has been equally bullish about the prospects for tax reform – with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin just weeks ago setting August as the goal. The White House swiftly pushed back on McConnell’s timeline Thursday.

“We feel very confident that we're going to get a lot done -- continue to get a lot done this year. Tax reform is high on the president's priority list,” Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

He said Trump is “committed” to this and “you're going to see Secretary Mnuchin and others work on the contours of that in the next several weeks.”

Asked if August was still the goal, he said, “That’s right.”

In his address to a Joint Session of Congress, President Trump vowed “historic tax reform” that cuts taxes for businesses and the middle class. In early February, Trump said they were “ahead of schedule” and getting ready to announce a plan in the coming weeks. He told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly he hopes to push through tax cuts before the end of the year.

Mnuchin specifically cited the August recess goal in a CNBC interview in late February. And speaking with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” the secretary said tax reform is the No. 1 economic goal for the administration.

"On the personal side, it's really about tax simplification -- fewer tax brackets, simpler taxes and creating a middle income tax cut," Mnuchin said. "That's really the focus on personal taxes. And on business taxes, it's really about making U.S. companies competitive.”

McConnell on Thursday would not venture a prediction on when tax reform could be completed, noting it is “complicated” work to determine which tax preferences can be eliminated to produce the revenue to offset the impact from lower rates. Further, he predicted Democrats would not participate in the discussions given “this has not been a kumbaya moment here” at the start of the Trump administration.   

“Basically, it’s a Republicans-only exercise,” he said.

<..snip..>

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/10/mcconnell-hits-brakes-on-tax-reform-despite-bullish-trump-team.html

[catfish1957]

Hey KY GOP voters.  Time to start on recipes for Turtle Soup and cook this mf'er in the 2018 primaries.

[geronl]

Republican "tax reform" these days is a huge tariff that could sink the economy

[XenaLee]

Wow.....excellent parsing there Bitch.....er...ah....Mitch.  You've learned a lot from Barack Hussein Obama over the past eight years.  Too much, in fact.  But I've learned too.  I learned how to read between those lines of parsing.

“We do have to finish the health care debate … before we go to taxes.”

Translation:  Don't hold your breath for any tax cuts (unless you're stupid).  And don't expect repeal of ObamaCare (for the same reason).  We'll call it a "debate" to keep from solving it....for ever.

[XenaLee]

Republican "tax reform" these days is a huge tariff that could sink the economy

No.  RINO "tax reform" could and would sink the economy.  However, conservative across-the-board tax cuts might and probably would SAVE the economy.  Can't have that, dontcha know.

[catfish1957]

“We do have to finish the health care debate … before we go to taxes.”

99% of the entire rest of the population is expected to know how to do more than one thing at a time.  This slug has to go.

[XenaLee]

99% of the entire rest of the population is expected to know how to do more than one thing at a time.  This slug has to go.

I totally agree.  Too bad Trump can't just fire him.

[Emjay]

Hey KY GOP voters.  Time to start on recipes for Turtle Soup and cook this mf'er in the 2018 primaries.

He is infuriating.  How a man who looks like that could ever have been elected, I can't believe.

[catfish1957]

He is infuriating.  How a man who looks like that could ever have been elected, I can't believe.

It's not his looks that infuriates me, it is his textbook example of what a worthless DC bureaucrat is

[Silver Pines]

He is infuriating.  How a man who looks like that could ever have been elected, I can't believe.

@Emjay

And somebody married him, which is beyond my comprehension.  *shudder*