Free Republic

Democrats are choking on crow for opposing this tax bill. Are they this economically illiterate? You pass the most extensive tax reform in nearly 30 years, it creates a better job creating and investing environment, and companies begin to boost U.S. investment, dole out bonuses to workers, some increase wages, and make declarations that charitable donations will go up. Yeah, that sounds bad, or something. It all centers on the notion that the Left thinks that your money is their money, and that the government, preferably run by over-educated, snobby liberal elitists, know best to allocate how that money is...

The roaring success of President Trump's tax cuts have made every Democrat squirm uncomfortably, but none quite like self-proclaimed consumer advocate Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. After voting against the historic bill last month, the far-left senator was left in the dust on a losing side of a new reform. As if that wasn't bad enough, she has since repeatedly been forced to say it really was a good thing. The latest came out in an interview on Fox News with Brett Baier, who asked her what she thought of the rate cuts extended to ice-bound Massachusetts energy customers...

The new tax bill is now law; it's on the books; it's an addition to the U.S. Code. But unfortunately, the new law doesn't have a very catchy title. Its original title was the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017," which is most excellent. However, due to punctilios in the Senate, the name had to be changed, and in the rush to get the thing passed, congressmen settled on "An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018." That's not so catchy. I don't know...

On the heels of companies dishing bonuses of up to $3,000 to over one million workers due to the anticipated benefit of President Trump’s tax reform victory, several major utilities have announced plans to cut rates in a consumer payback related to the lower taxes. Energy suppliers like Washington’s Pepco, Baltimore Gas and Light, Pacific Power, Rocky Mountain Power and Commonwealth Edison said they plan to give hundreds of thousands of customers a rate cut due to the tax reform.

Philippe Reines, a longtime adviser to Hillary Clinton who worked with her in the Senate, the State Department and in her presidential campaign, spoke before interns to give his insights on the current political climate. Then interview aired on CSPAN. Reines told the students he was worried millennials might become Republican if they notice they donÂ’t have to pay as much taxes. Philippe Reines: I think millennials have to, they have to, they more than anyone have to say this is not normal and there is a lot of pressure to shut up(?) Donald Trump and his people want everyone...

The right kind of tax reform can help people directly and indirectly. They benefit directly if reform reduces their tax burden and gives them more take-home income.They benefit indirectly if reform increases growth and leads to additional pre-tax income. For what it’s worth, I think the indirect impact is most important for family finances, and I discussed the potential benefits of faster growth in this recent interview on Fox Business. Dan Mitchell Explaining Why Uncompetitive States Should Lower Tax RatesBut for today’s column, I want to focus on the final portion of the interview, when I pontificated on how limiting...

CNBC conducted a survey before Christmas. Economic optimism is soaring. The network noted that for the first time in over a decade, more than half of the respondents said the economy was good or excellent. The results of this survey were released on December 18, four days before President Trump signed the most extensive tax reform into law in nearly 30 years. The good economic news has not been able to buoy Trump’s approval numbers, but this survey suggest that the president could be yielding some dividends on that front as well (via CNBC): The CNBC All-American Economic Survey...

Sen. Marco Rubio says the GOP "probably went too far" in slashing the tax burden on corporations. The Florida Republican told the News-Press of Fort Myers that corporations will largely use their major tax cut to buy back shares or increase dividends to shareholders — which "isn't going to create dramatic economic growth." "If I were king for a day, this tax bill would have looked different. I thought we probably went too far on (helping) corporations," Rubio told the newspaper in the interview published Friday. "By and large, you're going to see a lot of these multinationals buy back...

Rep. Rodney Davis said Friday that he plans to introduce a bill to make the tax changes for individuals permanent. “We’re going to introduce a bill to make them permanent and I hope that many of the Democrats who talk about making them permanent will join me in supporting this legislation,”

The tax reform law championed by President Donald Trump and Sen. Dean Heller is already boosting Nevada’s economy. The proof is sitting right on the Strip. On the same day that Trump signed the bill into law, New York developer Steven Witkoff announced plans to revive the stalled Fontainebleau resort. The imposing blue building on the north end of the Strip has sat empty since the original project went bankrupt in 2009. Coincidence? Nope. Witkoff began seeking a loan to complete the project once it looked as if tax reform had a good chance of passing, according to a Bloomberg...

BEIJING — China said on Thursday that it would temporarily exempt foreign companies from paying tax on their earnings, a bid to keep American businesses from taking their profits out of China following Washington’s overhaul of the United States tax code. There is, however, a catch: To be eligible, foreign companies must invest those earnings in sectors encouraged by China’s government — including railways, mining, technology and agriculture — according to a statement from the Finance Ministry. The measure is retroactive from Jan. 1 this year, the ministry said. The move would “promote the growth of foreign investment, improve the...

Democrats don’t trust free markets, preferring to use the power of government to control the economy. And they don’t understand basic laws of supply and demand. Appearing on CNN this morning, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gave a good illustration of that distrust and ignorance. Cuomo kvetched about the reduction in the corporate tax rate contained in the tax bill. He claimed that the bill wound up being a benefit to the rich corporations, and that: “[Republicans] hope the rich corporations will then give it to the workers as a matter of their largesse. But if they actually wanted to...

The self described socialist and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an actual communist (he spent his honeymoon in Soviet Russia by his own volition) who keeps blathering about “millionaires and billionaires”, a strange dude who never had a real job in his life until he was like 40 years old and then  started working for the government, and now he’s basically a one percenter himself (he owns like 3 houses and he’s worth millions of dollars) admitted on Sunday that President Trump’s tax reform is actually pretty good for America’s middle class. To make things even more interesting, comrade Bernie aknowledged...

Well, Democratic spin surely has the middle class skeptical of the Republican tax bill. On Friday, President Trump signed the most extensive tax reform in 30 years. It was framed as a giveaway to the wealthy and something akin to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by congressional Democrats. Not a single Democrat voted for the bill. In reality, itÂ’s a middle class tax cut. Eighty percent of Americans for at least the next eight years will be paying less. The analysis says it. And now CBS News spoke to three families from Providence, Rhode Island, Fresno, California, and Cary,...

RUSH: “Rand Paul Calls for Investigation of Obama Officials Colluding Against Trump: ‘Worse than Watergate!’” This happened yesterday. Rand Paul “on Thursday called for an investigation about ‘high ranking Obama government officials’ who might have worked together to stop the election of President Trump. Time to investigate high-ranking Obama government officials who might have colluded to prevent the election of @realDonaldTrump! This could be WORSE than Watergate!’ “Paul’s call adds a high-profile voice to the chorus of Republicans who are calling for a special counsel to investigate whether Obama officials tried to stop Trump’s election…'” I mean… (sigh) You know,...

As 2017 draws to a close, I am moved to summarize and comment on President Trump's first year in office. His election was nothing short of an historic phenomenon and he has exceeded my wildest expectations. There are articles out there that list his top 81 accomplishments, but they include things like learning to play the accordion and walking on water. I'll stick to my short list. 1- my favorite. Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords. Climate change is a corrupt, money-making hoax. Not that the climate doesn't change; it's been changing since the Big Bang, sometimes radically. For ninety-nine...

The Trickle-Down Mythmaking Begins Several companies gave out raises after tax cuts passed Congress. But that was probably already going to happen anyway. After Congressional Republicans passed their $1.5 trillion package of tax cuts on Wednesday, a number of companies responded by announcing raises or bonuses for their workers. Comcast said it would give $1,000 bonuses to more than 100,000 workers. Fifth Third Bancorp said it would give out bonuses and boost its minimum wage, with the cut giving the bank, in its words, “the opportunity to reevaluate its compensation structure and share some of those benefits with its talented...

If she's planning to run for president in 2020, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., may have just shot herself in the foot. Because if (and admittedly, it's a big if) the U.S. economy keeps up its present pace, President Trump will have a very strong foundation on which to win reelection. Certainly, tax reform will be viewed by many Americans as a resounding success that created jobs, kept more money in more wallets, and improved the nation's long term investment potential. If so, Warren will have a problem. Because she's come out as one of the leading Democratic voices against tax...

Bank of America has joined the parade of American companies celebrating tax cuts by giving its employees a special year-end bonus. Brian Moynihan, the bank’s chief executive, sent an email to employees citing the benefits to the company from the lower corporate tax rate. “In the spirit of shared success, we intend to pass some of those benefits along immediately. U.S. employees making up to $150,000 per year in total compensation–around 145,000 teammates–will receive a one-time bonus of $1,000 by year-end,” Moynihan wrote. The bank also said that it expected to invest more in technology and in cities around the...

Tax reform is done. It’s about to be law. It’s the largest revamp in three decades, but not a single Democrat voted for it. Not even Democrats from states that Trump won by wide margins. It’s a big gamble for both sides. If it doesn’t produce the economic results the GOP has been pushing, they’re sunk. If it does maintain economic growth, and any patriotic American should hope so (we’re booming at four percent right now), then Democrats have to explain why they voted against the middle class, working families, more money in Americans’ pockets, and just overall relief. Why...