"lingering questions that will need to be answered....including which types of companies qualify as “pass-through” businesses eligible for the 20 percent deduction "
As Trump gets to make the final decision you can bet that it will benefit his 200+ "Pass Through" companies. eg. On his 2015 presidential financial disclosure report, Trump listed holdings of more than 200 limited liability corporations, which is a form of pass-through.
Who knew that fleecing the sheep would be so easy.
America , what have you done to yourself !!
1
So, realistically, guidance on major portions of this wont come out until the Fall, at best. After the tax year is 2/3 over. ! So much for the "stimulant" argument. You can't plan to stimulate if you don't know the rules. Uncertainty=>Inaction
I don’t think the elected representatives that voted for this abomination had a clue just how much the pass through deduction would cost in lost revenues. And now the Director of the OMB wants to make sure the law has the broadest interpretation possible? If Mulvaney and OMB get the last say on the regs, Mnuchin and Treasury will have issue more debt than planned. And I don’t think the next Congress will help cover the increased deficit by making cuts in social programs that Republicans want.
This is just madness. First I hear from Wilbur Ross that these tariffs may or may not actually happen. Now I read that the tax law may or may not happen. It gets hard to care because why invest in whining about something you disagree with if it's all bluster?
If Trump is a lesson for anyone about anything, it's that boring government is good. You may not like some of the given policies that happen under X's watch, but if at least you know that the people in government are adults, you can bother yourself with more important things, like that Little League game, or the choice of paper or plastic or.... just about anything else.
4
That the law is already in effect should be cause for concern - in that the complying with it is impossible without the guidance from the Feds. This isn't a political matter, it is a matter of real world impact. Idiots is too kind, while these two departments struggle to get the most benefit for their friends (and in Mnuchin's case, himself).
10
More of the same from the Trump Administration. Let the people with the least knowledge and ability make the decisions. This will only twist the law more in favor of Trump's allies and the wealthy.
13
Since the Treasury Secretary requires Senate confirmation, he can ultimately be accountable to the people of the United States but the head of OMB is a presidential appointee to the Executive Office of the President of the United States with no Senate confirmation so it seems to me like the Treasury should have this responsibility. If OMB is made in charge, it can ultimately make decisions based on the whims of the president with no oversight.
11
Do any of the over sized personalities in the Trump Admin know how to discuss and resolve issues .With each other and with the world at large.
This flaw in personalities and Trump's swashbuckling approach to leadership is why we are looking at a Trade War and are tip toeing towards a nuclear confrontation,not to mention disruption of the World Order existing for the last 70 years.
Time for his base to wake up
9
Why with all the troubles of cabinet people why doesn't Trump just have Mulvaney be over all the cabinet heads. Mulvaney seems to want that. Pretty amazing for low-level congressman before.
1
OMB does not have the manpower, or probably the expertise, to carry through on this grab.
True, the IRS has traditionally ignored, so if Trump were to give Mulvaney anything, it would be a big change. But what could they do with it? There's absolutely no way they could competently review IRS regulations in time, and it's political suicide to create a bottleneck.
A more fundamental problem is that Trump couldn't possibly understand what this is actually all about.
20
Is that the biggest lemon wedge in the biggest glass of iced tea you’ve ever seen?? I mean folks, it’s big right?
6
@Thereaa
Like everything else Trump, it's either an optical illusion or wishful thinking. It's a real lemon but its size is fake. I mean the lemon of course.
4
If this were in South America 20 years ago we’d shrug, but this is “the party of Abraham Lincoln.” Our tax dollars are being swallowed up by these fools who are playing at government. At seder this year I didn’t say “Next year in Jerusalem,” I said “Next year, no Trump/Pence.”
20
This White House is so corrupt, that their are now rival gang factions in the White House fighting over the money.
16
One thing that will result from this is that the IRS, the entity which interfaces with the public, and is a direct recipient of the frustration, is going to be at the bottom of the pile. Iy's understaffed now. And it's the IRS that will be blamed for the SNAFU that will result. The tax change is abominable, but whatever the law is, people and businesses that pay taxes deserve to know how to plan for this year and beyond.
7
The winner will be the one who can demonstrate that his lax oversight will assure the Trump Mob saves the most money.
That it takes two NYT's reporters to cover this shows that they still don't quite get what's happening. Good thing most of us do.
8
Whatever the Koch Brothers want is what is going to happen!
7
It really doesn't matter what rules are made...the debt and deficit are way too high and the tax bill only will make matters worse. Why would any sentient person vote for an increase in the debt while the economy is reasonable and the unemployment level is about 4%?
Brought to you by the GOP handlers and their new and improved swamp.
20
One who wants to purchase the next election.
1
Delay is a good thing in this case. How about delay until Trump, Ryan and McConnell are deported and the Republican Party is outlawed?
30
The fact that the President may decide who has the say in writing tax regulations, should make it clear to everyone that he has too much power. We need to change the Constitution in order to keep an impulsive President's premature thoughts in check!
17
It isn't the Constitution that needs to be changed......there are THREE EQUAL branches of government, the congress, the judiciary and the presidency. The judges have, so far, been able to stall a few of 45's worst impulses, so they are working. However, that cannot be said of the congress--held by the GOP--that has completely abandoned their CONSTITUTIONAL responsibility of checking this out of control dictator-wannabe. November cannot come soon enough.
3
“The swamp is going to be enriched by this one,”
Hopefully the Democrats can take control of the House this year and overturn the disastrous Citizens United ruling. It is increasing clear that the average taxpayer has no dog in this fight.
"No taxation without representation" was one of the major issues in the FIRST American Revolution.
31
Each day I look at the news and think, it can't possibly get any worse. Surprising how many times I could be wrong.
49
The article states, “The swamp is going to be enriched by this one!”
It’s not a swamp. It’s a cesspool and those in it will be enriched. America should expect less in overall tax revenues as lobbyists representing special interest donors and well-versed in the art of tax code rewrites come bearing their mastery of the English language to craft their loopholes, interpretations and tax avoidance schemes.
For Mulvaney and Mnuchin it could be about gaining power and the related benefits today and tomorrow. Likely, Trump will pick the weaker of the two who will do his bidding. Either way, likely tax revenue will be down, spending, deficits and national debt will be up.
We must find a way to hold self-interested and self-dealing Politicians and their staffers, from both parties, personally liable, responsible and accountable for the lies they have told US, their gross mismanagement of our county, our $21 T and growing national debt (108% of GDP), and approximately 80 T in future, unfunded liabilities they forced on US jeopardizing our economic and national security, while benefiting themselves, their staffers, their party, operatives and special interest donors.
http://www.USDebtForum.com
25
any idea of what that 'way' might be?
First new voting rule: Stop saying: "My congressman is not the problem."
3
Trump's avowal that he likes chaos is a cover story for an innate inability to lead. He does not know enough about how government works to make a decision and does not want to be in the line of blow back from any unintended consequences. One of the combatants will declared a winner and is next in line for blame when something goes wrong.
18
The GOP created this grotesque quagmire with their secretive creation and passage of these new tax formats. There apparently was little forethought into the back pages of this bill. Now, they have a big tangle to unwind for definition. Now, with the battle for supremacy between the Budget office and Treasury, there is no telling how long this imbroglio will sustain itself to the detriment of the taxpayer.
13
Let's see how many of the middle class republicans actually see the increase of $4k annually each taxpayer would receive under that Trump's tax plan. Uh oh, the OMB has projected that middle class taxpayers will only get ~$950 in annual benefits until the personal rates expire in ten years. Probably none of the republican voters will care, ... unless of course they're midwest farmers who will now lose their export businesses because of Trump's trade wars to compound their joy over taxes.
No matter, at least the republican party of fiscal irresponsibility has guaranteed the middle class that the tax plan will pay for itself. Uh, oh, that pesky OMB has said that the plan will cost taxpayers ~$2T over the next ten years; eg, it will not pay for itself, it will cost money.
Oh, and wait until those republican middle class voters tell their kids that each one of them now inherits a $27k debt incurred by the government in return for that $9.5k of tax benefits that mom & dad got (old math; $950 x 10 yrs; $2T / 75m kids). I'm sure that the kids will be mightily impressed with the deal making of the republicans and their keeno business sense.
Really, how can anybody with a straight face support the republican fiscal agenda?
Ok, that's a rhetorical question. Obviously, those fans of the Hoover Great Depression and the Bush Great Recession wax nostalgic for republican fiscal conservatism.
Too bad for the rest of us that the lunatics really are running the asylum.
28
This is why we hold hearings BEFORE passing legislation. I have to agree with Adam Looney on this one; the swamp is now an ocean.
50
Epileptic politics all around makes for anemic government. Currently the anemia is winning. Truly a sad statement on the political discourse of a once proud nation.
3
Might it be that the present administration simply wants to make the new tax cut legislation as hard to modify as possible? The present-day concern over the emoluments clause pales in comparison with the tens of millions of dollars members of this Administration may very well make after they leave office. And tax cuts are come and go from one administration to the other. So they may want to get out of government so that they can personally enjoy the tax cuts while they last. Look for people like Mulvaney and Mnuchin to soon run for the exits so they can have a little fun too.
8
Come on, people! We can't expect the corrupt republicans running Congress to actually read the tax bill language and fix its giveaways and pork when there are lobbyists armed with bundles of campaign cash waiting for them at the nearest K Street bar and grill.
11
Such a dysfunctional government! Beneath contempt.
21
Only two African Americans appear among some 70+/- White House Interns for this year. Trump, blond and beaming, stands amidst them.
8
Buncha thieves having a little falling out among themselves.
11
I'm being told the OMB is building a wall around its offices.
7
They are fighting over how to divide the spoils. Among themselves.
12
As an attorney who spent over a decade at IRS Office of Chief Counsel drafting income tax regulations, I find it utterly inane that OMB wants to jump into the deep end without knowing how to swim. It's bad enough that Treasury views its role as politicizing the guidance process. The overwhelming majority of administrative giveaways, especially those to Wall Street, come from Treasury.
But at least they know what they're doing (most of the time). I doubt anyone at OMB has more than a lay knowledge of tax law.
But wait, I'm sorry, I forgot the President is a self-proclaimed tax genius. Whew, I feel better already!
37
Mnuchin is greedy and stupid and completely unqualified for his cabinet position while Mulvaney is evil and stupid and and a toady for the Koch Brothers and unqualified as well
But if I were Solomon I would side with Mnuchin because Treasury has staff that at least knows how to do this while the budget office does not
45
"But if I were Solomon I would side with Mnuchin because Treasury has staff that at least knows how to do this while the budget office does not"
And that right there is more thought than 45 will give it. He has got to be one of the laziest Prez ever.
8
How about just cutting them both in half.
10
Rupert Murdoch will tell Donald what to do in tonight's Billionaire Club phone call.
3
Reinhold Neibhur which many presidents have conferred and referred and even Martin Luther King jr- about this theologian, the current president doesn't read or listen to anything besides Fox News, but Neibhur predicted we would get a leader like Trump to shed light on the evils of mankind.
4
The words no rational person wants to hear..."the president may have to weigh in and make the decision himself"
45
Incompetent thieves with no understanding of, nor concern for the processes of good governance, not unlike the biggest thieving moron at the helm. Exasperating all...bring in the Marines (to the border--illegal, too, just like all the corruption bringing us down.)
5
Gee, I thought Mulvaney had enough to do undoing our consumer protections. Interesting to see these sharks concentrate more power in the presidency, further limiting the power of Congress. Could the Trump insiders be preparing for losses at the Congressional level? I'd think the Republicans in Congress would be worried about this. The next Democratic president will be able to point to this and say that taking the writing of tax regulations from Treasury wasn't his/her initiative.
5
Love the photo of the 3 blind mice
2
One has to think that a fight between Mnuchin and Mulvaney is perhaps as useless as a professional wrestling match. Neither knows anything about the economy and only seeks to feather their own ideological nest in seeking additional preferment by their Lord and Master: DJT. But the Trump himself has no understanding of the economy, taxes, or business so his opinion is pretty much useless as well. Thus, it is a tempest in a useless teapot--exciting to the mice watching and hoping for a dropped biscuit but of no other value at all. Mnuchin has shown himself to be pretty much ignorant about policy, policy development, economics, fairness, and a host of other issues and aspect we don't have time or interest in listing. Mulvaney brings a negative, destructive view to the budget and economy and no sense at all of the impacts his careless actions may have.
Stand aside! A pretty small fight taking place for control of the playground.
4
Democrats should run in fixing this GopTaxScam. They should run on cleaning up the ambiguous language, the giveaway to the rich, a menu of deductions with limits and safeguarding social security and Medicare.
Democrats need a plan that is easy to explain and then spend the next six months selling it.
13
It doesn’t matter what is decided about who’s in charge. Trump will see somebody complain on Fox news in six months and change his mind. Management by mood swing.
7
Don't forget the blanket edict the White House issued last year for all federal agencies: for every two new regulations, one must be eliminated. IRS, good luck with that.
3
So, Mr Trump's big, "beautiful" tax cut is already mired in the swamp.That is a surprise.The Ways and Means Committee of the House supposedly wrote it so why not let them weigh in on the definitions.They will be blamed if it all goes wrong.If it is accepted they will take credit.
5
Oh this is good news! Here's hoping that the discord delays implementation of this egregious law until, oh, say 2020 or so.
So much to repeal! So much to replace!
6
GOOD! Hope the GOP TAX SCAM ( excuse the shouting, folks) withers in the chaos of the White House and its demented occupant, Donald!
It's bad enough that the Republicans could care less about Putin's cyber attack on our democracy, they are also allowing a man who is deranged to continue as president!
Vote out all the Republicans possible on November 6th 2018!
3
Any move right now that undermines traditional independent agencies is dangerous. Trump basically is trying to declare martial law due to refugee children that he sees as dangerous in his paranoid universe.
Trump's appointees are uniformly bad with the possible exception of Gen. Mattis.
As Trump destroys the environment, society, law and justice, and remakes the United States into some dystopian wonderland for kleptocrats, the Treasury and OMB need to fulfill their normal functions. This is not about creating a sliding conduit for enormous tax cuts for the wealthy which adds $1.5 trillion to the deficit. The American taxpayer, the stability of the American economy, and not Trump's dangerously ignorant dogmas are what are important.
Every day, there is some new attack on democracy and on the nation's well being and safety from the Trump administration itself.
5
What happened to the tax code being capable of being written on a postcard.
My sense thus far is our tax laws are more complex , less fair, capable of creative interpretation and of course heavily beneficial to the rich.
Not to mention the massive debt increase that will grow each year to a point it is not sustainable.
Then Ryan if still in power will slash social security, Medicare Medicaid .
We have seen first hand the damage States have wrought on their education system and infrastructure with irresponsible tax cuts.
Democrats must win this November and needs an economic message that resonates with the majority of Americans.
Let's do first what is necessary , then what is possible and in time we can do the impossible.
19
You don't suppose that they should have put more time and thought into the tax overhaul before they did it? Or maybe they ought to have consulted some people who are experts in tax laws or the consequences of being stupid when writing tax laws. Nah, they don't need no instructions on how to do anything in Congress. They work for the great and wonderful Trump who knows nothing but pretends he knows everything and makes decisions based upon the opinions/advice of the last person he spoke to no matter how unqualified that person may be.
All Congress did with this ill thought out and hastily enacted overhaul was to make our tax system worse. They increased corporate welfare, gave working Americans who aren't rich a few years reprieve after which the taxes increase again, and haven't even got the decency to admit that it's a scam. Nice.
38
"... since a 1983 memorandum of understanding, the office has not had the authority to review the Treasury’s tax guidance, on the theory that it is not economically significant enough to warrant it." Here's the problem (and it was a problem before 1983 but has only gotten worse: in the US, our federal government has gotten into the habit of implementing all kinds of economic policies through layer upon layer of tax expenditures. Other countries offer subsidies, and budget for them and administer them through government programs and agencies. By contract, the US just ladles out tax breaks and loopholes. Yes, they do indeed have significant economic consequences; no, the OMB does not have the expertise to carry out the necessary analysis. I will be watching this one play out with morbid fascination.
13
It is disturbing to see the extent to which legislated tax policy is left to interpretation. Whether or not OMB gets to participate makes a difference of "hundreds of million of dollars". Maybe not much relative to total tax, but possibly a huge difference to some taxpaying entity. I'm sorry, but this lends credence to the position that too much leeway is left to administrative interpretation.
19
@Doug Fuhr:
If you can write an utterly complete and utterly unambiguous tax law that covers every single fact pattern, then you have standing to complain about “administrative interpretation.”
1
Excellent. Delay away. Law and order is anathema to this administration and most Republicans.
39
It's been less than a week since Hope Hicks left, and look how crazy things are already. And Trump wants private arbitration with Stephanie Clifford? And threatens to put the military on the border because he's not getting his wall? This is just grease for the rest of the chaos.
45
Did Hope Hicks' "little lies" make anything less crazy?
I detect zero difference in the craziness level of this WH pre- and post- Hicks departure.
Does this mean we don’t have to have a parade? Please, please, please!
58
Well, see, the parade will be held down at the border. Two birds one stone, etc.
2
Here’s my dirty little secret: Even though I'm a news junkie I can never remember which one is Mulvaney and which Mnuchin. As in the movies, the henchmen of the madman who wants to rule the world tend to blur as they're mowed down one by one.
25
Mulvaney is the dumpy guy.
Mnuchin is the revenge of the Nerds guy married ro Cruella Devilles sister.
3
My mnemonic is simple; Mnu-chin, ain't got one. Piece-o-cake!
1
Mnuchin is the one with the clenched teeth.
1
If the planets align and the stars are bright, Nov 2018 and Nov 2020 will toast this revenue giveaway to the rich and powerful.
36
An unfortunately ambiguous turn of phrase...
1
Turf war, statutory construction dispute. Same end.
All this administration cares about is making the path to obscene riches even easier for wealthy donors, whether it by via trashing the air and water we need to live; giving away our public lands to the highest industrial bidder;further dumbing down public education, privatizing the VA, etc. etc. ad nauseum etc.
We have a president who played golf in FL while Parkland kids demonstrated in front of the WH. Think about that.
He might be a colossal mess, but his priority is pretty clear. And he will drain the national treasury in implementing it. (just in time for Ds to have to mop up.)
Oh, and speaking of taxes - excuse me please - but WHERE ARE YOUR TAX RETURNS DONALD AND WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?
113
Putin has the tax returns, part of getting The Donald (and the collabo-GOP) on the cheap. We have a pornocracy verging on a coprocracy (government of excrement), all in the service of a foreign power.
This better get settled soon because I've already planned on how to spend my expected $4.00 tax cut. I'm going to get an ice cream cone! How lucky am I?
201
Very lucky!! A 4 dollar ice cone!!!! WOW not in NYC.
1
When the smoke clears, mark, I expect you'll still be able to splurge on the cone but not the ice cream to go in it.
(As the African proverb has it, "when the elephants fight, it's the grass that gets trampled.")
2
You got $4.00? You must be one of those rich guys that really benefited from the greatest tax reform ever.
1
So, folks, how are you liking the Trumpian idea of government by chaos and turf war so far?
121
ummm after giving it some thoughts, I'd prefer 20 years living with bed bugs.
15
Pick your parasite. Nevermind, it's mean to call bed bugs parasites.
1
The same Republicans who excoriated the Obama White House and Congressional Democrats for their "rushed" ACA bill--despite the fact that there were numerous hearings and committee meetings during the ACA's drafting, unlike with this tax bill--are now having to grapple with a bill fraught with ambiguities and errors because they rushed it through and drafted it in secret. Our only hope is for a true blue wave in November.
148
This is what the President loves; Turmoil. He'll decide the winner after both have presented their arguments, Both leave the room and then the last person to see him provides the greatest influence. Last week, the Times reported on similar disagreement between Kushner and Sessions on criminal sentencing guidelines and rehabilitation. And of course, there is the ongoing disagreements among his lawyers.
It is no surprise qualified people are declining to work with him. If you want the job, bring your knee pads and shin guards. Always be prepared for the infamous "tweet" advising of your status with the team. If you're out of town, be sure to have alternative travel plans for your flight home.
50
Trump must think that governance is like his rather bizarre views on sex (like telling someone with whom he's committing adultery that she reminds him of his own daughter). He must feel that the best sex is after a knock-down, drag-out argument.
Both Kaiser Wilhelm and Czar Nicholas II are said to have operated the same way "...the last person to see him provides the greatest influence" ... Scary?
3
good thinking Tom.
You write: "He'll decide the winner after both have presented their arguments..."
To me it doesn't sound like he goes by what he 'heard/learned' last. It looks more that, once alone, he turns to the wall and goes: "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe'.
Here's an idea for quicker, better and less self interested parties manipulating, bending and influencing decisions that often affect 200 million plus more interested parties than the very specific, small yet overly influential cabals of individuals etc who have more control and a say over American laws, tax, health,legal, regulatory and many other policies...
Lobbying Groups and Lobbyists.
Yet the Lobbying Groups and Lobbyists for 250 Million + Americans which are supposed to be the Political Parties and Politicians who as Lobbyists for the People and are even referred to as Representatives...more often don't do their Job or carry out the role they are voted in to carry out as for some reason they act on the wishes of Lobbyists for a small minority and carry out their desires, wishes and wants often at the expense of those they supposedly represent but in reality no longer serve.
They have decided to work for and carry out the wishes of these few , influential people and their Lobbyists and in doing so reneged and betrayed their function, calling and reason to be...as the Representatives of The People and Lobbyists for their wishes and needs which they are voted in to serve.
Something fundamentally disturbing and cause for the greatest concern has gone very Awry in the great Democratic experiment that was why and what America was first made to be and follow on to become to all others to aspire to and join.
Now nothing could be further from the truth now become a lie.
9
So I guess more red tape is OK if it supports an internal administrative turf battle, just not if it has a positive effect on the roll-out of programs.
Good to know.
18
Isn't Mr. Mulvaney busy gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? He doesn't have time to also add more confusion to the tax regulations.
96
Yep. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has already "adopted new limits on the use of “guidance documents” that federal agencies have issued on almost every conceivable subject, an action that could have sweeping implications for the government’s ability to sue companies accused of violations," reports the NY Times. More confusion ahead, full speed!!
"Administration Imposes Sweeping Limits on Federal Actions Against Companies"
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/us/politics/legal-violations-federal-...
Karma. Not only was there chaos in the writing and passing of the tax bill, but now there is chaos in the implementation.
Karma. The two most Trumpian cabinet Members are now fighting over who gets to write the regulations that will determine how the bill is interpreted and implemented.
Karma. The bill is so poorly written that no one really knows what its true intentions or implications are.
Karma. The one and only " legislative accomplishment" of the first 15 months of his administration is growing moss while his minions argue over who gets to be the big cheese.
Karma. Who cares? What goes around comes around.
61
Must laugh. The party of big business. Very true,but how did Trump take them out of the swamp? It is also the party of eating its own,like a black widow. Trump will last how long? Either he will be impeached by his own party because he hurts businesses in the US or he is impeached after the 2018 elections due to turnover. Inevitably he is impeached. President Pence will not succeed in the remaining two years. It will only be a matter of a power struggle in the GOP of who Pence’s puppeteer will be. For all he believes he is (Pence) ,he is just an adulterers enabler. Good luck to Mnuchin in his trivial turf war squabbles. Just saying that when this administration ends please check their briefcases for any missing jet transports. Especially upstate New York & Oklahoma.
8
"it will slow the process down,” said John A. Koskinen, a former I.R.S. commissioner whose term ended last year."
A great guy to weigh in on this, threaten with contempt for his failure to reply to a Federal Judge and censured by the House, Mr Koskinen should not be quoted on ANYTHING.
5
Koskinen and Lerner got a bad rap from the right for doing exactly what the law required, monitoring compliance by both the left and the right with an arcane bit of tax law. The did exactly what this taxpayer wanted them to do.
5
The House censure was entirely political. Koskinen should be praised for earning the enmity of the Republicans in the House. A later Inspector General's report found that the IRS also went after applications from liberal groups.
5
It should not be an either/or. For twenty years the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has been working on getting countries around the world to make Better Regulations. It involves several different institutions in government, each providing its expertise for better regulations. This is a start. Already in about 1999 the OECD pointed out that the worst part of American lawmaking are Congress's laws. If laws start out badly, regs won't be any good. Already a century ago the ABA pointed out that in many countries are too important to be left to the legislature.
7
Upir thoughtful little essaye sounds good! But what you're missing is that you make a good ans scholarly argument to and about about dim witted but very selfish people whose main accomplishment in life turned out to be that they're more ruthless, reckless, thoughtless than most, but know squat how to run a government. The butcher's son who became a Queens NY Realtor, made it big with lines of credit from big banks, blindsided by his showmanship should have never been let close to any Government job, least of all the Presidency.
GJH is right -- it is wishful thinking that the US might one day do what is ordinary in other countries. But it is not out of the question. Once the US led the world, not only in drafting constitutions, but statutes, too. Who today knows that Thomas Jefferson rushed home from drafting the Declaration of Independence i 1776 to spend almost three years redrafting Virginia laws. Google Jefferson Revisal to find more. Not only did he revise the laws, before adoption, the people received a printed version to read and comment on! YES WE CAN.
1
The taxes collected are suppose to go into the Treasury Department to be used to pay things like the White House Office of Management and Budget.
If the one just mentioned had a hand in writing tax regulations I would feel that it might be a conflict of interests and I don't think that I would be alone.
However this could just be another way Trump is trying to shape the government for the hand over to Russia, he needs to go.
41
needs to go, or go up the chimney like my family remaining in Europe in 1939, who did NOTHING wrong or evil?
I'm under the impression that regulations cannot be enacted that are outside of the scope of the underlying statutes. I would like to think that the IRS/Treasury regulations over the years have been consistent with USC Title 26.
My question is, did the legislation passed by this Congress, alter the rule-making ability of the Treasury Department, or allow for expansion. (Of course, we the public did not get a chance to see the bill for some reason.) If not, I suspect lawyers everywhere will have a field day, with guaranteed income for life!
59
Speaking as a tax attorney, what Mulvaney is proposing is insane.
These are interpretive regulations -- i.e., what is Congressional intent. Cost-benefit analysis has nothing to do with it.
Also, this is a highly technical area of law with 100 years of precedents to consider (statute, regulttions, cases, administrative orders, etc.). None of which OMB is familiar with.
Again, insane!
199
Speaking as a taxpayer - that 100 years of precedents need to figure in is insane...
What's also insane is how progressives (not just here - think Hollande) think they can just keep boiling taxpaying frogs with higher and higher incremental rates...
Yes - the rates were ostensibly "lowered" this time around...At the cost of the SALT deductibility...
$100B corporations just up and leave when the top notional rate exceeds about 20% - while our government counts on its citizens being less mobile in the face of such beltway banditry...
Sometimes, no actual move need - just move the metaphorical Wu-Tang album to a vault in Ireland...
1
Truly insane, but consistent with Trump's approach to making America great again.
I’m also a tax attorney, and I agree. It’s Treasury’s job.
1
And the circus continues (sigh).
70
they never should have let them all out of the clown car
1
So, the Trump administration is too disorganized, incompetent, and chaotic to implement this horrible Gilded Age tax plan that will balloon the national debt?
That's ironic as heck.
170
It deserves a little airplay. But the chilling thought is this: "the president may have to . . . make the decision himself." which means another dinner with Sean Hannity and whatever Trump can remember...
1
This would all be interesting if Munchkin and Mulvaney were not the equivalent of Beavis and Butthead.......instead, it is merely another day and another round of total chaos in this administration.
194
Beavis and Butthead will face off on this one. In case of a tie, the winner will be determined by which of the contestants has the most Trumpian trophy wife.
2