Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 2017)
NATION/WORLD Thursday, November 16, 2017 East Oregonian Page 7A Problems loom for GOP tax bill WASHINGTON (AP) — Wiscon- sin’s Ron Johnson on Wednesday became the first Republican senator to say he opposes his party’s tax bill, signaling potential problems for GOP leaders. Passage of a similar package seemed certain Thursday in the House, where a handful of dissidents conceded they expected to be steamrolled by a GOP frantic to claim its first major legislative victory of the year. Eager to act before opposition groups could sow doubts among the rank-and-file, Republican leaders were anxious to hand Donald Trump the first crowning bill of his presidency by Christmas. Trump planned to visit House GOP lawmakers Thursday at the Capitol in what seemed likely to be a pep rally, not a rescue mission. The two chambers’ plans would slash the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 20 percent, trim personal income tax rates and diminish some deductions and credits — while adding nearly $1.5 trillion to the coming decade’s federal deficits. Republicans promised tax breaks for millions of families and companies left with more money to produce more jobs. “It represents a bold path forward that will allow us as a nation to break out of the slow-growth status quo once and for all,” said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, as his chamber debated the bill. Democrats said the measures would bestow the bulk of their benefits on higher earners and corporations. In the Senate Finance Committee, they focused their attacks on two provisions designed by Republicans to save money. One would repeal President Barack Obama’s health law requirement that people buy coverage or pay a fine, a move the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects would result in 13 million more uninsured people by 2027. The other would end the personal income tax cuts in 2026 while keeping the corporate reductions permanent. AP Photo/Julie Jacobson Bidding representatives react after Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” sold for $400 million at Christie’s, Wednesday in New York. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., left, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, criticizes the Republican tax reform plan while Chairman Or- rin Hatch, R-Utah, center, listens to his opening statement as the panel begins work Monday to overhaul the tax code. “We should be working together to find ways to cut taxes for hardworking middle-class families, not taking health care away from millions of people just to give huge tax cuts to the largest corporations,” said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. The Finance panel was on track to approve its proposal by week’s end. But with GOP leaders hoping for full Senate passage early next month, concerns by Johnson and perhaps others would have to be addressed. Republicans controlling the Senate 52-48 can approve the legislation with just 50 votes, plus tie-breaking support from Vice President Mike Pence. With solid Democratic opposition likely, they can lose just two GOP votes. Besides Johnson, Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee have yet to commit to backing the tax measure. A small group of House Republicans largely from New York and New Jersey was rebelling because the House plan would erase tax deductions for state and local income and sales taxes and limit property tax deductions to $10,000. Their numbers seemed insufficient to derail the bill. Asked if they could, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said, “I don’t think so.” Repealing the “Obamacare” individual mandate would save $338 billion over the coming decade because fewer people would be pressured into getting government-paid coverage like Medicaid. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, used the savings to make his bill’s personal tax reductions modestly more generous. Ending the bill’s personal income tax cuts in 2026, derided by Democrats as a gimmick, was designed to pare the bill’s long-term costs. Legislation cannot boost budget deficits after 10 years if it is to qualify for Senate proce- dures barring bill-killing filibusters. Those delays take 60 votes to block, numbers Republicans lack. BRIEFLY Silence from Trump as Moore- Alabama storm grows louder WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump dodged questions about the turmoil in the Alabama Senate race on Wednesday, declining to join national Republicans who’ve called for Roy Moore to abandon the race amid allegations of sexual impropriety with teenage girls. Far from surrendering, Moore’s camp challenged the credibility of one of the accusers. Trump, who withstood allegations of sexual assault weeks before his own election, was uncharacteristically silent when faced with questions about the scandal, which has rattled the party and left Moore’s would-be colleagues threatening to expel him should he win. Republicans had looked to Trump as one of the few remaining hopes for pushing a fellow political rebel from the race. Another hope was Sean Hannity, the Fox News Channel host and onetime Moore defender. On his Tuesday evening show, Hannity gave Moore 24 hours to explain “inconsistencies” in his response to allegations of child molestation or else exit the Alabama race. Trump: China agrees NKorea nuclear weapon freeze not enough WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. and China agree that North Korea cannot just freeze its nuclear weapons program in exchange for concessions and that it must eliminate its arsenal. Trump was restating a long-standing U.S. position but suggested that China now concurred with Washington that a “freeze- for-freeze” agreement was unacceptable. China and Russia have proposed that as a way to restart long-stalled negotiations: that the North could freeze its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for the U.S. and its close ally South Korea stopping regular military drills that Pyongyang considers as preparation for invasion. China has not made a public disavowal of the proposal. China said Wednesday that it would send a high-level special envoy to North Korea amid an extended chill in relations between the neighbors. Trump was speaking a day after he returned from a 12-day trip through Asia. ‘Obamacare’ sign-ups 45 percent ahead of last year WASHINGTON (AP) — Sign-ups for Affordable Care Act health plans are running more than 45 percent ahead of last year’s pace, according to government data released Wednesday. The numbers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services come as Republican senators are pushing to pay for tax cuts by repealing the “Obamacare” requirement to carry coverage. The new figures show that nearly 1.5 million consumers picked a plan through Nov. 11, compared to just over 1 million from Nov. 1-12 last year, a period that had included one additional day for consumers to enroll. The latest data cover 39 states served by the HealthCare.gov website. The overall number of sign-ups is higher because states running their own health insurance markets are not counted in the HealthCare. gov data. The share of new customers for 2018 coverage stayed at about 23 percent, the report said. The Obama-era health law offers subsidized private insurance for people who don’t get coverage on the job. Sign-ups this year are being closely watched because of efforts by the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress to do away with the law. fired, concert organizers and the makers and sellers of a bump stock gun accessory that enabled him to fire rapidly are named as defendants. The court filings argue that they all share blame for the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history. The 14 civil complaints, filed together in state court in Las Vegas, follow at least three others filed since Paddock opened fire Oct. 1 from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino, killing 58 peopl and injuring hundreds of others. The lawsuit seeks unspecific compensation. Mexico, U.S., Canada, begin NAFTA talks MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico, the United States and Canada have begun the fifth round of talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. None of the three countries’ trade representatives or economy secretaries will directly attend the talks, which will formally open Friday and run through Tuesday. But the U.S Trade Representative’s office said Wednesday that 30 groups of lower-level negotiators are meeting in Mexico City this week. Talks involving upper- level officials were held this month at the Asia-Pacific APEC meetings in Vietnam. Talks have stalled over tough American demands, including higher U.S. content for automobiles, changes to the dispute- resolution process and a sunset clause that could force the renewal of the pact every five years. Mexico’s low wages have also sparked demands it implement better labor protections. Las Vegas shooting After 37 years, Mugabe’s rule lawsuits stack up with 14 more filed over Zimbabwe appears over CHICAGO (AP) — Legal action following the mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert is picking up with lawsuits filed Wednesday on behalf of 14 concertgoers, including some who were shot or injured trying to escape and one woman who is so traumatized that she has since mistaken the sound of rain for gunshots. The hotel-casino from where Stephen Paddock HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s military was in control of the capital and the state broadcaster on Wednesday and was holding President Robert Mugabe and his wife under house arrest in what appeared to be a coup against the 93-year-old Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state. The military was at pains, however, to emphasize it had not staged a military takeover, but was instead starting a process to restore Zimbabwe’s democracy. Still, the military appeared to have brought an end to Mugabe’s long, 37-year reign in what the army’s supporters praised as a “bloodless correction.” South Africa and other neighboring countries were sending in leaders to negotiate with Mugabe and the generals to encourage the transition. Citizens in Zimbabwe’s tidy capital, Harare, contributed to the feeling of a smooth transition by carrying on with their daily lives, walking past the army’s armored personnel carriers to go to work and to shops. Many who have never known any leader but Mugabe waited in long lines at banks to draw limited amounts of cash, a result of this once-prosperous country’s plummeting economy. Leonardo da Vinci’s Christ painting sells for record $450M NEW YORK (AP) — A painting of Christ by the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci sold for a record $450 million at auction on Wednesday, smashing previous records for artworks sold at auction or privately. The painting, “Salvator Mundi,” Latin for “Savior of the World,” is one of fewer than 20 paintings by Leonardo known to exist and the only one in private hands. It was sold by Christie’s auction house, which didn’t immediately identify the buyer. “‘Salvator Mundi’ is a painting of the most iconic figure in the world by the most important artist of all time,” said Loic Gouzer, co-chairman of post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s. “The opportu- nity to bring this master- piece to the market is an honor that comes around once in a lifetime.” The highest price paid for a work of art at auction had been $179 million, for Pablo Picasso’s painting “Women of Algiers (Version O)” in May 2015, also at Christie’s in New York. The highest known sale price for any artwork had been $300 million, for Willem de Kooning’s painting “Interchange,” sold privately in September 2015 by the David Geffen Foundation to hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin. A backer of the “Salvator Mundi” auction had guaranteed a bid of at least $100 million. The bidding opened at $75 million and ran for 19 minutes. The price hit $300 million about halfway through the bidding. People in the auction house gallery applauded and cheered when the bidding reached $300 million and when the hammer came down on the final bid, $400 million. The record sale price of $450 million includes the buyer’s premium, a fee paid by the winner to the auction house. The 26-inch-tall Leon- ardo painting dates from around 1500 and shows Christ dressed in Renais- sance-style robes, his right hand raised in blessing as his left hand holds a crystal sphere. Its path from Leonardo’s workshop to the auction block at Christie’s was not smooth. Once owned by King Charles I of England, it disappeared from view until 1900, when it resur- faced and was acquired by a British collector. At that time it was attributed to a Leonardo disciple, rather than to the master himself. The painting was sold again in 1958 and then was acquired in 2005, badly damaged and partly painted over, by a consor- tium of art dealers who paid less than $10,000. The art dealers restored the painting and documented its authenticity as a work by Leonardo. The painting was sold Wednesday by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, who bought it in 2013 for $127.5 million in a private sale that became the subject of a continuing lawsuit. Christie’s said most scholars agree the painting is by Leonardo, though some critics have ques- tioned the attribution and some say the extensive restoration muddies the work’s authorship. Christie’s capitalized on the public’s interest in Leonardo, considered one of the greatest artists of all time, with a media campaign that labeled the painting “The Last Da Vinci.” The work was exhibited in Hong Kong, San Francisco, London and New York before the sale. In New York, where no museum owns a Leonardo, art lovers lined up outside Christie’s Rockefeller Center headquarters on Tuesday to view “Salvator Mundi.” e-Edition AVAILABLE EACH MORNING BY 5:30 A.M. Access is included. Read the East Oregonian early in the morning each publication day with our e-Edition. Full access to this exact digital replica of the newspaper is included in your subscription. It’s easy to access! %CNN, ext. 1 Monday through Friday 8 a.m.– 5 p.m. and we’ll help you set up your e-Edition and EastOregonian.com access. Or go to EastOregonian.com and click on “Login” in the upper lefthand corner to login, or activate your online ÃÕLÃVÀ«ÌvÀÌ iwÀÃÌÌi° Questions? Call, email circulation@eastoregonian.com or stop by 211 SE Byers Ave. in Pendleton, or 333 E. Main St. in Hermiston during business hours.