The Crimson Cyclone wrote:The Kobach commission had been using personal emails which means sensitive voter data may have been at risk. The commission is overseen by Pence who also had recent email issues as governor of Indiana

President Donald Trump will bring his pitch to overhaul the tax code to North Dakota on Wednesday with an unlikely guest in tow: the state's Democratic senator, Heidi Heitkamp.

Heitkamp, who is facing re-election next year, will join the rest of the state's congressional delegation aboard Air Force One as they travel to the capital of Bismark, where Trump is planning to argue that his proposed cuts are worthy of bipartisan support.

Trump will point to North Dakota's history of cross-party support for reductions to the tax rate, according to speech excerpts provided by the White House.

"I want all of America to be inspired by the North Dakota example," he will say. "This state is a reminder of what can happen when we promote American jobs instead of obstructing them."

The inclusion of Heitkamp on the trip is intended as, at least, public outreach to Democrats to assist in the tax push after a series of legislative defeats, including the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, that came after some Republican lawmakers joined a unified Democratic opposition. But Republican leaders have rejected Democratic demands not to advance tax legislation through the reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass a Senate filibuster and pass a bill on a partisan basis.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows said Republicans still haven't received any guidance from leaders on what corporate, individual or capital-gains tax rates will be. He said it's important for "real specifics" to be decided by the end of September, "so that we're actually debating the legislative text so we can pass it out of the House."

Slashing the rate for corporations and so-called pass-through entities to 15 percent -- the goal Trump has set -- could cost more than $2 trillion over 10 years, according to the Washington-based Tax Foundation think tank. If tax changes are to be permanent, any cuts have to be accompanied by offsets such as the elimination of loopholes. So far, White House officials and congressional leaders haven't provided many details about ways to offset cuts, aside from eliminating state and local tax deductions.

Politico reported that Trump continued to push for dropping the corporate tax rate to 15 percent at Tuesday's meeting despite opposition within his party and the conclusion of most of his negotiators that it will end up between 20 and 25 percent.

Democrats are also likely to object to changes that would benefit the richest taxpayers, with 45 senators signing a letter earlier this year saying they wouldn't support a bill including tax cuts for the top 1 percent.

Tax policy experts have said the dozen bullet points the White House released in April outlining its principles would undoubtedly mean lower taxes for top earners, while the effect on middle incomes was less clear. The plan calls for cutting the top income-tax rate to 35 percent from 39.6 percent; eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax, which raises the tax bills of certain taxpayers on the higher side of the income scale; and repealing the estate tax, which applies to individuals with estates worth more than $5.49 million. However, it also would eliminate state and local tax deductions, which tend to benefit high-income filers in Democratic states.

pacino wrote:Senator Mendendez's (D-corrupt) trial starts today

hope it lasts a couple months...

Barack Obama
✔
@BarackObama

To target hopeful young strivers who grew up here is wrong, because they’ve done nothing wrong. My statement: http://www.facebook.com/barackobama/
2:52 PM - Sep 5, 2017

Chris Evans
✔
@ChrisEvans

Thank you. I was starting to forget what a president is supposed to sound like. https://twitter.com/barackobama/status/ ... 4386750469 …
3:18 PM - Sep 5, 2017

Donald J Trump
✔
@RealDonald

Not my Captian America https://twitter.com/ChrisEvans/status/905148247731265536...
4:22 AM - Sep 6, 2017

pacino wrote:this guy is really bad at politics

jerseyhoya wrote:

pacino wrote:this guy is really bad at politics

Not taking into consideration the alienating allies & siding with people who hate you part, doesn't make a whole lot of sense why he'd go against Ryan, McConnell & Mnuchin on the debt ceiling extension.

Even if he wants to try to hold the CR hostage for his wall funding, can do that in December. Or use the DACA thing. What the hell does he get from another debt ceiling fight in December?

Democrats love it because the idiot caucus won't vote for any debt ceiling hikes so Ryan has to give something away to Pelosi every time it comes up. Dunno if Trump doesn't know this or just doesn't care.

@JenniferJJacobs 6m6 minutes ago
More
Trump says he thinks Congress wants to take care of DACA.
"Chuck and Nancy want to see something happen and so do I," he tells press on AF1.

jerseyhoya wrote:Next time the party should try to nominate a member of the party