Exaggerations on Killing Regulations
Recently, President Trump scheduled a media photo opportunity in which he had his aides stack a very impressive pile of regulations which Trump was taking credit for eliminating. The reality was far less impressive than the appearance. Trump boasted that he had eliminated "nearly 1,000 regulations." Of 469 regulations claimed to be "withdrawn," 42 percent were as good as dead already. Some 180 were not listed on Obama's final agenda of upcoming rules. On some, there had been no activity for years. Some had already been eliminated by Obama. Many of the regulations Trump included as being eliminated were listed as "reclassified." Only 15 had been overturned by Congress. Thus, the great majority of what Trump claimed had been killed, were done by executive order, a form of executive branch legislating that the GOP had harshly condemned when it was done by President Obama.
President Trump's dictum that two regulations must be eliminated for every new one imposed is devoid of reason, because he has very rarely given any explanation of why eliminated regulations were bad for business, the nation or the world.
Discrimination on FEMA Applications
A report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Episcopal Health Foundation found that in applying for FEMA assistance, 34 percent of white applicants had their applications approved, versus 13 percent of black applicants. Despite Trump administration bragging of how well it has responded to hurricane damage, many people in Harvey-damaged coastal Texas are saying they still face major hurdles before their lives return to normal. The situation in Puerto Rico remains dire, with a large percentage of the population still without electricity.
More Babies the Solution
During a brief presser, House Speaker Paul Ryan said that the working population is increasing at a 19 percent rate and the retirement population is increasing by 90 percent. His solution is that to save popular programs like Social Security and Medicare, women must have more babies.
Rebooting For-Profit Colleges
PROSPER, a rewrite of the Higher Education Act, will reboot floundering for-profit colleges.
Real Estate "Pass-Through" in New Tax Law
CNBC says roughly four dozen GOP House and Senate members who voted for the new tax law stand to reap a windfall thanks to the loophole inserted at the last minute that reduces the tax rate on income derived from real estate. Trump will also benefit from the provision due to his heavy investment in real estate. As a candidate, Trump boasted that he would eliminate the "carried interest loophole" as an indication that he would not hesitate to end a big tax break for the very wealthy. The loophole is in the new law.
Heritage Foundation Warning on Tax Manipulation
The Heritage Foundation has issued a warning about the "pass-through provisions in The Tax and Jobs Act of 2017. "The discrepancy in top rates between individual income and small and pass-through business income will increase the incentive to treat income from wages artificially as business income. This new tax provision have no consistent policy rationale, and arbitrarily favors certain types of businesses over others, introduces new complexity, and will provide new opportunities for unproductive tax planning." Heritage also charges that too many special-interest subsidies remain.
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