In what's to be a hastily organized press conference, the White House announced Wednesday that President Trump would speak about the Republican tax-reform effort at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The implication is that Trump will be laying out next steps now that GOP lawmakers have tentatively agreed on a compromise tax bill that both chambers of Congress are ready to send to the president's desk.
However, as we've learned, in the Trump era, no legislative achievement is in the bag until all the votes have been tallied.
As was the case with yesterday's tax deal, the "deal" reported today would reduce the top individual tax rate to 37% and set the corporate tax rate at 21%, slightly higher than the 20% initially favored by President Trump. The mortgage interest deduction would be capped at $750,000, a mid-point compromise between the Senate and House bills.
The deduction for pass-through companies will be set at 20 percent, somewhat lower than the 23 percent included in the Senate-passed bill. That will be offset by lowering the top individual income rate to 37%. It is now 39.6%.
Though Republicans in both the House and Senate who had reservations about the bill are still making their views known, Mark Meadows, the leader of the House Freedom Caucus, recently said he's given the agreement his blessing, and it's beginning to look like Republicans have actually finally come to a consensus of sorts – though stocks have rolled over following a morning-trade bump.
While he's already tweeted about Roy Moore's loss (both to congratulate the winner and to attempt to vindicate himself for supporting Moore), it's likely he'll be asked about the outcome of last night's special election…
…As for whether he'll feel like talking: We'll need to find out.
via http://ift.tt/2AjrdVi Tyler Durden