By Helaine Olen December 18 at 2:12 PM


Trump administration officials and congressional Republicans spent the past weekend continuing to insist that their tax reform plan is all about helping the middle class and making the tax system simpler and easier to navigate. President Trump’s “priority all along is [to] fix a broken system,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on “Face the Nation,” adding that the plan is all about helping the “middle class” and “working families.”

Au contraire. What Trump and congressional Republicans will really accomplish if their plan becomes law is to further rig the tax system in favor of the wealthiest Americans.

A new report from a group of 13 prominent tax experts including Lily Batchelder at New York University School of Law and distributed by the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides the most detailed explanation yet of how this bill will encourage the wealthy to pursue all sorts of tactics in service of what accountants call “tax avoidance.” This is, of course, almost certainly not what most voters thought they were getting when Trump promised to “drain the swamp” during last year’s presidential campaign.

The report claims the bill would encourage use of corporate tax shelters, incentivize high-income people to turn themselves into businesses to obtain lower-income tax rates, and encourage runarounds solely designed to help individuals owe less money to the federal government at the end of the year.

more

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/12/18/trump-and-the-gop-are-rigging-our-tax-system-for-the-rich-this-new-report-explains-how/?utm_term=.f410b92d86d8

When the scam takes full effect, expect howls of "we must get the deficit under control' from these same repukes...

It's got bright citrus notes, a crisp, clear finish and a rather herbaceous nose.

Rebel Coast Winery's new sauvignon blanc is infused with THC and will be sold in California starting January 2018 when recreational marijuana use becomes legal.

The wine is taken through a special process to remove the alcohol, so while a few glasses will get you high, there's no drunkenness or hangover.

There are four milligrams of THC per glass, and the description on the website claims, "That is not particularly strong — the states permits up to 10mg per serving."

more
http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/marijuana-infused-wine-Rebel-Coast-Winery-THC-CA-12438570.php

By Tommy Christopher
DECEMBER 18, 2017

People in the states that narrowly delivered Trump's tainted electoral victory are finding out just how empty his promises were.


In addition to all the help Donald Trump got from Russia, he was propelled to an electoral victory by the narrowest of margins in key “Rust Belt” states, where he promised to bring back jobs that everyone else knew were never coming back.

Now, with his first year in office nearly complete, people in those states are learning the hard truth about Trump’s promises.

West Wing Report’s Paul Brandus notes that unemployment is on the rise in four out of five Rust Belt states that went for Trump, even as workforce participation has declined

more
https://shareblue.com/unemployment-is-rising-in-swing-states-that-voted-for-trump/

By Scott Paul
December 17, 2017

If you take the time to dig through President Trump’s Twitter profile, you’ll discover a person who puts a lot of stock in television ratings.

That’s no surprise. Donald Trump has lived a very public life; his fame driven upward over the decades by a cultivated image of wealth and luxury, by mentions in New York gossip columns and movie cameos. His brand as a no-nonsense real estate dealmaker was set in stone by years of prime-time exposure on NBC’s “The Apprentice.” This president, as America knows him, was created by the medium of television – and he knows it, too.

Now, ensconced in the Oval Office, the reality-TV president lashes the news cycle furiously, keeping it moving at a breakneck pace. Outrages and anniversaries pass quietly. There is always something new to gawk at. For instance: Few marked the recent one-year anniversary of President-elect Trump’s trip to Indianapolis to celebrate the Carrier deal.

Remember that?

more
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/12/17/remember_those_carrier_jobs_trump_saved_neither_does_he__135809.html

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