NATION
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 7A
GOP shoves tax overhaul ahead; shutdown still a threat
WASHINGTON
(AP)
—
Republicans held together and
shoved their signature tax overhaul
a crucial step ahead Tuesday as
wavering GOP senators showed
a growing openness. But its fate
remained uncertain, and a planned
White House summit aimed at
averting a government shutdown
was derailed when President Donald
Trump savaged top Democrats and
declared on Twitter, “I don’t see a
deal!”
“It’s time to stop tweeting and
start leading,” Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer retorted
after he and House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi rebuffed the budget
meeting with Trump and top
Republicans.
Trump lunched with GOP sena-
tors at the Capitol and declared it a
“love fest,” as he had his previous
closed-doors visit. But the day
underscored the party’s yearlong
problem of unifying behind key
legislation — even a bill slashing
corporate taxes and cutting personal
taxes that’s a paramount party goal.
Tuesday’s developments also
emphasized the leverage Democrats
have as Congress faces a deadline a
week from Friday for passing legis-
lation to keep federal agencies open
while leaders seek a longer-term
budget deal. Republicans lack the
votes to pass the short-term legis-
lation without Democratic support.
In a party-line 12-11 vote, the
Senate Budget Committee managed
to advance the tax measure to the
full Senate as a pair of wavering
Republicans — Wisconsin’s Ron
Johnson and Tennessee’s Bob
Corker — fell into line, at least for
the moment. In more good news
for the GOP, moderate Sen. Susan
Collins of Maine said it was a “fair
assumption” that she was likelier to
support the bill after saying Trump
Trump’s ‘Pocahontas’ jab draws blowback
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
President Donald Trump pauses as the media departs after he
spoke in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington,
Tuesday, during a meeting with Republican congressional leaders.
agreed to make property taxes up
to $10,000 deductible instead of
eliminating that break entirely.
But the fate of the legislation
remained uncertain as it headed
toward debate by the full Senate,
which Republicans control by a
slender 52-48. GOP leaders can
afford just two defectors, and a half
dozen or more in their party have
been uncommitted. They include
some wanting bigger tax breaks for
many businesses but others cringing
over the $1.4 trillion — or more
— that the measure is projected to
add to budget deficits over the next
decade.
“It’s a challenging exercise,”
conceded Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He
compared it to “sitting there with a
Rubik’s Cube and trying to get to
50” votes, a tie that Vice President
Mike Pence would break.
Corker, who’s all but broken
with Trump over the president’s
behavior in office, is among a
handful of Republicans uneasy
over the mountains of red ink the
tax measure is expected to produce.
He said he was encouraged by
discussions with the White House
and party leaders to include a mech-
anism — details still unknown — to
automatically trigger tax increases
if specified, annual economic
growth targets aren’t met.
“I think we’re getting to a very
good place on the deficit issue,”
Corker said.
But other Republicans are wary
of backing legislation that would
hold the hammer of potential future
tax increases over voters’ heads.
“I am not going to vote to auto-
matically implement tax increases
on the American people. If I do that,
consider me drunk,” said Sen. John
Kennedy of Louisiana.
Collins said she’d also won
agreement that before completing
the tax measure, Congress would
approve legislation restoring federal
payments to health insurers that
Trump scuttled last month. That bill
has had bipartisan support, but it’s
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Families of Native American war
veterans and politicians of both major parties are criticizing President
Donald Trump for using a White House event honoring Navajo Code
Talkers to take a political jab at a senator he has nicknamed “Pocahontas.”
The Republican president on Monday turned to the name he often
deployed for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the 2016
presidential campaign to mock her claims about being part Native
American. He told the three Navajo Code Talkers on stage that he had
affection for them that he doesn’t have for her.
“It was uncalled for,” said Marty Thompson, whose great-uncle
was a Navajo Code Talker. “He can say what he wants when he’s out
doing his presidential business among his people, but when it comes
to honoring veterans or any kind of people, he needs to grow up and
quit saying things like that.”
Pocahontas is well-known as a Disney princess but less so for
the sacrifices she made to save her people from British forces in the
1600s in present-day Virginia, descendants of her tribal community
say. Whether Trump’s remark constitutes a racial slur depends on who
you ask, but most critics agree it was inappropriate.
Warren said Trump’s references to her as “Pocahontas” will not
keep her from speaking out.
unclear if Democrats would back it
amid battling over the tax bill.
McConnell and House Speaker
Paul Ryan, R-Wis., met with Trump
at the White House despite the top
Democrats’ no-shows. Trump high-
lighted their absence by appearing
before reporters flanked by two
empty chairs bearing Schumer’s
and Pelosi’s names.
Trump said Democrats would be
to blame for any shutdown, despite
GOP domination of government.
“If it happens it’s going to be over
illegals pouring into the country,
crime pouring into the country,
no border wall, which everyone
wants,” he said. He also said North
Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile
on Wednesday should prompt
Democrats to renew negotiations
over the spending legislation, which
includes Pentagon funding.
“But probably they won’t
because nothing to them is
important other than raising taxes,”
Trump said.
Trump repeated those claims
Tuesday night on Twitter, writing
that Democrats “can’t now threaten
a shutdown to get their demands.”
Democrats noted that in May,
Trump tweeted the country “needs
a good ‘shutdown’ in September
to fix mess!” In a tweet of her
own Tuesday, Pelosi said Trump’s
“verbal abuse will no longer be
tolerated,” adding in reference to
the empty-chairs show, “Poor Ryan
and McConnell relegated to props.
Sad!”
A temporary spending bill
expires Dec. 8 and another is
needed to prevent a government
shutdown. Hurricane aid to help
Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands is also expected to be
included in that measure, as well as
renewed financing for a children’s
health program.
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