Happy Tuesday and welcome back to On The Money. I'm Sylvan Lane, and here's your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. See something I missed? Let me know at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N. Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, vneedham@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis. THE BIG DEAL -- Key GOP chairman endorses Trump's new tax cut promise: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said Tuesday that the House would work with President Trump on a new round of tax cuts if Republicans keep control of both chambers in the midterm elections next month. "We will continue to work with the White House and Treasury over the coming weeks to develop an additional 10 percent tax cut focused specifically on middle-class families and workers, to be advanced as Republicans retain the House and Senate," Brady said in a statement. Brady's comments came days after the president caught Congress and the administration off guard by promising a new round of tax cuts before the November midterm elections. Congress is in recess until after the Nov. 6 election. Trump later said that the cuts would take place after polls close next month. Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday also lowered expectations that the tax cut would come to fruition shortly after the November midterm elections. "It may not surface for a while. But that's his goal. That's his policy intent. I don't see anything wrong with that," Kudlow told reporters at the White House. "Promises made, promises kept," he said. "Take him seriously when he comes out with these things. That's been his pattern for a long time. People should not underestimate that." ON TAP TOMORROW LEADING THE DAY White House report warns of the 'costs of socialism' ahead of midterms: The White House on Tuesday issued a report warning of the dangers of socialism two weeks ahead of pivotal midterm elections. The report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers fits with a larger campaign strategy from Republicans trying to portray Democrats as extremists for ideas gaining traction in their party, including Medicare for All, the health proposal that would provide government-run health insurance to cover everyone. Some cases cited by the White House report, however, are far from anything that Democrats have actually proposed. The Hill's Peter Sullivan breaks down the bizarre report here. - The report warns against the economic systems of the Soviet Union and Venezuela.
- The report also makes extreme comparisons between notable communist leaders like Mao Zedong, and political foes of President Trump and possible 2020 presidential candidates such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
- "The Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who cited Marxism as the model for his country, described 'the ruthless economic exploitation and political oppression of the peasants by the landlord class,' " the report states.
- "Expressing similar concerns, current American senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have stated that 'large corporations ... exploit human misery and insecurity, and turn them into huge profits' and 'giant corporations ... exploit workers just to boost their own profits.' "
Other parts of the report do examine policies that some Democrats are proposing, like Medicare for All, which is gaining support on the left, or higher taxes. The report states that Medicare for All would have to be financed through higher taxes and would cause GDP to "fall by 9 percent." Former Fed chief Volcker warns of US descent into 'plutocracy': Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said in an interview published Tuesday that the United States is "developing into a plutocracy" and suffering from a crisis in good governance. Volcker, 91, told The New York Times that he feared the skill and reputation of the U.S. government has been corroded by self-interested elites shaping law through lobbying and campaign donations. He said the country was "in a hell of a mess in every direction." "Respect for government, respect for the Supreme Court, respect for the president, it's all gone," said Volcker, who was an economic adviser to former President Obama. "Even respect for the Federal Reserve." "How can you run a democracy when nobody believes in the leadership of the country?" he added. I've got more on Volcker's warning here. Talking Brexit: Edward Luce, the Financial Times Washington columnist, led a panel discussion on the status of Brexit at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday, The Hill's James Wellemeyer reports. The panel comes at a critical point in negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU). At the event, Sir Kim Darroch, British Ambassador to the U.S., reaffirmed British Prime Minister Theresa May's claim that the Brexit deal is "95 percent done." Luce highlighted the biggest issue on the table, how Brexit would affect the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. Darroch pushed back on those worries. "All of us want the same objective: no hard border between Northern Ireland and proper Ireland." But former Irish Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton highlighted the concerns over the issue, saying "there is a legitimate and a really deep emotional concern in Ireland" regarding the future of peace in Northern Island with the border question still open. Douglas Alexander, a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and the former U.K. Secretary of State for Scotland, also raised the issue that Parliament could reject whatever Brexit deal May's government strikes. "I have my doubts," Alexander said. Amanda Sloat, a Brookings Institution senior fellow and the only American on the panel, called the the lack of U.S. involvement in the Brexit process "surprising" given the strong U.S. efforts to broker peace in Northern Ireland in the past. GOOD TO KNOW - The Treasury Department on Tuesday targeted eight members of the Taliban and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Forces with financial sanctions through a year-old partnership with six Middle Eastern countries.
- A key Chinese bank is preparing to halt transactions with Iran ahead of imminent U.S. sanctions against Tehran, according to Reuters.
- Industrial services powerhouse Caterpillar on Tuesday saw its stock price dive 8 percent when it gave disappointing adjusted earnings guidance for 2018, blamed partly on tariffs imposed by President Trump.
- Harley-Davidson's sales plunged by 13 percent last quarter after President Trump said he would support a boycott against the company.
- Yahoo has said it will pay $50 million in damages and provide free credit-monitoring services to millions of Americans and Israelis following a data breach beginning in 2013 that led to as many as 3 billion accounts being compromised by hackers.
- Bloomberg Law explains how payday lenders could escape tighter regulation as the Trump-led Consumer Financial Protection bureau considers eliminating a requirement that they first assess borrowers' ability to repay loans.
- Trump's trade war is already prompting farmers and agricultural forecasters to plan for a dismal 2019 growing season before the fall harvest is complete, according to Politico.
ODDS AND ENDS - Hollywood Democrats are pouring money into the midterm elections, infusing races with cash in a last-ditch push to flip control of Congress.
- E-cigarette company Juul Labs has increased its spending on lobbying by more than 400 percent in the past three months as it faces regulatory threats from the Trump administration and Congress.
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