Trump Overstates Size of Tax Cuts in Speech to Farmers
January 9, 2018 by admin
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The inaccurate boast was part of a speech in which the president sought to underscore the benefits that middle-class families would receive as part of the tax overhaul, which he described as “massive tax cuts” after “years of crushing taxes, crippling regulations and corrupt politics.” To applause from thousands of farmers in the audience, Mr. Trump said the tax cut would exempt most family farms from the estate tax.
“From now on, most family farms and small business owners will be spared — and it really is the word punishment — of the deeply unfair estate tax known as the death tax, so you can keep your farms in the family,” Mr. Trump said.
In reality, only about 80 small businesses and farms would fall under the estate-tax tent this year, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. The new law, which exempts more estates from the tax, will primarily benefit the richest Americans.
The president drew thunderous applause by celebrating the reversal of a regulation known as the Waters of the United States, which many rural landowners had opposed.
“We are streamlining regulations that have blocked cutting-edge biotechnology, setting free our farmers to innovate, thrive, and grow,” he said. “Oh, you are so happy you voted for me. You are so lucky I gave you that privilege.”
The president used the speech to offer a preview of the political message he will deliver to voters as lawmakers prepare for the midterm elections in November. Democrats in Congress, he warned, will try to reverse the tax cuts — which passed entirely along party lines without a single Democratic vote — if they seized the majority this year.
“If the Democrats ever had the chance, the first thing they would do is get rid of it and raise up your taxes, sometimes by up to 40, 50, 60 percent more than you have right now,” Mr. Trump said.
The $5.5 trillion tax figure began circulating last month in a White House news release playing up Mr. Trump’s accomplishments for the year. It claimed the tax bill “provides $5.5 trillion in tax cuts, of which $3.2 trillion, or nearly 60 percent, goes to families.”
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That, too, is misleading: Individuals receive a net tax cut of $1.1 trillion over 10 years under the new law, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. And that falls to under $1 trillion when excluding tax cuts for business income from so-called pass-through companies, which are taxed through the individual code.
The White House’s cherry-picking is also raising hackles among some economists. At a meeting of economists in Philadelphia over the weekend, Kevin Hassett, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, drew criticism from liberal economists for claims that centered on one tax cut in the bill while excluding a related tax increase. Mr. Hassett showed a slide indicating that a large portion of the fiscal cost of the bill was related to its expansion of the child tax credit — without mentioning the elimination of dependent exemptions, which essentially offset the gains from the child credit for many families.
Mr. Trump’s speech to the annual Farm Bureau convention, the first for a president in more than two decades, came as the administration released a report about the need to improve America’s rural economy. The report proposed a new focus on issues like expanding rural access to broadband, improvements to health services in farming communities, work force training and the use of biotechnology.
“Unleashing the potential and ingenuity of rural communities is an integral part of making America great again,” the 43-page report states.
The president called for the document in an executive order in April and federal officials convened discussion groups with farmers around the country. The agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, said in the report that “while other sectors of the American economy have largely recovered from the Great Recession, rural America has lagged in almost every indicator.”
On Monday, Mr. Perdue told the farmers that the report detailed “the problems that we aim to solve.”
But even as the administration promotes its efforts on behalf of farmers, some of those tending the fields are not so sure of Washington’s approach. They worry that the president’s trade policies have the potential to negatively affect their ability to export their products around the world. And some are angry about new tax provisions that could actually lower tax benefits for small, low-earning farms.
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Advocates for farmers and trade analysts say Mr. Trump’s protectionist approach to trade has the potential to shrink the market for food producers in the United States. The president withdrew the country from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal with Asian nations. And he has threatened to pull the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has bolstered exports of meat, grains and other commodities.
Many of Mr. Trump’s supporters in the 2016 presidential election come from farming communities. But some now question whether the president’s trade policies are contributing to an advantage for their foreign competitors in countries that are continuing to form trade pacts around the world.
Mr. Trump has promised to negotiate better one-on-one trade deals with other nations, but he has yet to demonstrate much progress toward that goal. In the speech on Monday, he again pledged to negotiate new and better trade deals, particularly with Canada and Mexico.
“We are reviewing all of our trade agreements to make sure they are fair and reciprocal,” he said. “We are going to make it fair for you people again.”
After the speech, the president was scheduled to travel to Atlanta to watch the College Football Playoff national championship game between Alabama and Georgia.
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North and South Korea begin high-level talks on Olympic Games
January 9, 2018 by admin
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EPA
Both sides expressed optimism before heading into the talks
North and South Korea have begun high-level talks, the first between the countries in two years.
The meeting, at the Peace House in the truce village of Panmunjom, will focus on North Korea’s possible participation in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, taking place in South Korea in February.
South Korea also said it would raise ways to improve inter-Korean relations.
Ties have become increasingly tense since the last talks in 2015.
Relations broke down after Seoul suspended a joint economic project at the Kaesong Industrial complex in North Korea following a rocket launch and nuclear test by the North.
The incident led to North Korea ending all communication with Seoul, including cutting off telephone lines. Tensions have risen in the years since as the North continues to rapidly advance its banned weapons programme.
- What we know of Koreas’ red and green phones
- North Korea crisis in 300 words
- A history of North Korea at the Olympics
- What is the Kaesong Industrial Complex?
Peace Olympics
Both sides have sent a five-member delegations to the talks, who spoke to media ahead of the session.
Seoul’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, who is leading the delegation, said the Pyeongchang Games would “become a peace Olympics as most valuable guests from the North are going to join many others from all around the world”.
“The people have a strong desire to see the North and South move toward peace and reconciliation,” Mr Cho added.
The South has labelled the upcoming Winter Games the “peace Olympics” with President Moon Jae-in saying it a “groundbreaking chance” to improve relations between the Koreas.
The North’s delegation is led by Ri Son-gwon, the chairman of North Korea’s state agency in charge of affairs with the South and a veteran negotiator.
“We came to this meeting today with the thought of giving our brethren, who have high hopes for this dialogue, invaluable results as the first present of the year,” said Mr Ri at the start of the talks.
His South Korean counterpart also similarly expressed optimism.
“Our talks began after North and South Korea were severed for a long time, but I believe the first step is half the trip,” said Mr Cho.
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Reuters
South Korea’s delegation drives into Panmunjom
North Korean leadership expert Michael Madden told the BBC that we were seeing the “baby steps of incremental rapprochement”.
“Both Koreas are proceeding cautiously, but what they would like to see happen is [the meeting] becoming a springboard for further contacts and interactions,” Mr Madden said.
The delegates are meeting in Panmunjom village that lies in the heavily guarded demilitarised zone (DMZ) and is where the two sides have historically held talks.
What is the significance of Panmunjom?
After the Korean war ended in a truce in 1953, Panmunjom was designated as the one place where officials from both sides could meet.
The “truce village” is divided into two parts by a military demarcation line: one side belonging to the North, the other to the South.
In the middle of the village sit the UN Command buildings, crossing the middle of the line.
Last year, a North Korean defector made a dash through the DMZ, managing to cross over to the South Korean side of Panmunjom.
‘Great thing for all humanity’
The high-level talks were agreed after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was considering sending a team to the Olympics in Pyeongchang in his New Year address.
The move led to North Korea restoring a telephone hotline to South Korea, enabling the first contact about holding talks.
US President Donald Trump called the talks a “big start”, adding that it would be a “great thing for all of humanity” if they resulted in a positive outcome.