Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2017)
Page 10 The Skanner March 15, 2017 News World News Briefs WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump earned $153 million and paid $36.5 million in income taxes in 2005, paying a roughly 25 percent effective tax rate thanks to a tax he has since sought to eliminate, according to highly sought-after newly-disclosed tax documents. The pages from Trump’s federal tax return show the then-real estate mogul also reported a business loss of $103 million that year, although the docu- ments don’t provide detail. The forms show that Trump paid an effective tax rate of 24.5 percent, a figure well above the roughly 10 percent the average American taxpayer forks over each year, but below the 27.4 percent that taxpayers earning 1 million dollars a year average were paying at the time, according to data from the Congressio- nal Joint Committee on Taxation. The tax forms were obtained by jour- nalist David Cay Johnston, who runs a website called DCReport.org, and re- ported on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Mad- dow Show.” Johnston, who has long re- ported on tax issues, said he received the documents in the mail, unsolicited. Trump’s hefty business loss appears to be a continued benefit from his use of a tax loophole in the 1990s, which al- lowed him to deduct previous losses in future years. In 1995, Trump reported a loss of more than $900 million, large- ly as a result of financial turmoil at his casinos. Tax records obtained by The New York Times last year showed the losses were so large they could have allowed Trump to avoid paying taxes for up to 18 years. But Trump’s 2005 filing shows that another tax prevented him from realizing the full benefit of those de- ductions. Ryan’s Gambit: Second Health Care Bill to Woo the Reluctant WASHINGTON (AP) — House Repub- licans are working on a companion to their bill replacing “Obamacare,” a legislative second act that would ease cross-state sale of health insurance and limit jury awards for pain and suffer- ing in malpractice lawsuits. The problem: the so-called “sidecar” bill lacks the votes in the Senate. Skeptics abound. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas called it “myth- ical legislation” in an interview Tues- day on the Hugh Hewitt radio show. In a tweet, conservative Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., suggested “Easter bas- ket” might be a better description. Yet Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., has said he wants to move a companion bill through the House alongside the main GOP legislation that rolls back key parts of Barack Obama’s health care law and limits federal spending on Medicaid for low-income people. That strategy may just help Ryan put together enough votes to get through the House, but then the sidecar would probably get detached in the Senate, where 60 votes would be needed for such legislation. Republicans only have 52 senators and they would need the support of Democrats alienated by the drive to repeal “Obamacare.” GOP Health Overhaul Puts Pressure on State Governments CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) — The Repub- lican health care plan means less mon- ey for states and gives them a tough choice: Find a pot of cash to make up the difference or let coverage lapse for AP PHOTO/EVAN VUCCI Trump Earned $153m and Paid $36.5m in Taxes in 2005 President Donald Trump gets into his vehicle after arriving at Detroit Metro Airport, Wednesday, March 15, 2017, in Detroit. millions of lower-income Americans. Governors and state lawmakers an- alyzing the Republican plan to replace former President Barack Obama’s Af- fordable Care Act fear a return to the past, when those without health cov- erage used emergency rooms for their medical needs. That uncompensated care that was written off by hospitals or billed to the state. The ax would fall especially hard on Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides health care to the poor and lower-income workers. In Washington, for example, state of- ficials say they would have to come up with $1.5 billion a year starting in 2020 to keep coverage in place for about 600,000 residents who gained coverage through the Medicaid expansion that was a key part of Obama’s health care law. “It would actually leave our nation worse off than before the ACA was implemented,” Gov. Jay Inslee, a Demo- crat, said in a written statement. Trump Set to Challenge Obama-Era Fuel standards in Detroit WASHINGTON (AP) — Moving force- fully against Obama-era environmen- tal rules, President Donald Trump is set to announce in Michigan plans to re-examine federal requirements that regulate the fuel efficiency of new cars and trucks. Trump is expected to reveal his plans during an appearance Wednesday at the American Center for Mobility in Detroit where he’ll challenge the Cor- porate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) emissions targets that were a cen- terpiece of former President Barack Obama’s strategy to combat global warming. The rollback underscores the Trump administration’s rejection of mainstream climate science in an ef- fort to boost economic growth. The Detroit center was used to pro- duce B-24 bombers during World War II and is now in the process of being converted into an automotive test- ing and product development center. While visiting there the president is expected to meet with auto executives and workers and discuss “how his plans for rolling back federal red tape will lead to more American jobs and higher wages, specifically in the auto- mobile sector,” Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters. The president will travel later Wednesday to Nashville, Tennessee, where he’ll lay a wreath at President Andrew Jackson’s tomb to mark what would have been Jackson’s 250th birth- day, before holding a campaign-style rally in the city. But the most significant move of the day will likely be the president’s an- nouncement on the CAFE emissions targets. The move will have no imme- diate effect. But it is expected to set the stage for weaker fuel efficiency standards as well as drawn-out legal battles with environmental groups and states like California that have adopted their own tough tailpipe standards for drivers.
