NATION/WORLD
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Conservatives slam GOP proposal
to automatically raise taxes
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conserva-
tive groups and lawmakers are lining up
against a proposal by Senate Republi-
cans to impose automatic tax increases
on millions of Americans — if their
sweeping tax package doesn’t grow
the economy and raise tax revenues as
much as projected.
The opposition comes as the tax
package cleared a key procedural vote
in the Senate on Wednesday. The Senate
voted 52-48 to start debating the bill.
Wednesday’s vote potentially could
pave the way for the Senate to pass the
package later this week. The Senate
could start voting on amendments
Thursday evening.
Opposition to the tax “trigger” could
doom a delicately negotiated proposal
aimed at mollifying deficit hawks who
worry that tax cuts for businesses and
individuals could add trillions to the
mounting national debt.
Tucking a potential tax increase into
the tax cut bill isn’t sitting well with
conservatives.
“Automatic tax increases are a
special level of insanity,” said Rep.
Trent Franks, R-Ariz. “I don’t think it
survives.”
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, called
the proposal “a uniquely bad idea,”
especially if revenues fall short because
of an unforeseen economic slowdown.
Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., said the
threat of an automatic increase would
make businesses reluctant to invest.
“If businesses or individuals have
no ability to plan on a rate, it makes an
investment decision, for instance, very,
very difficult,” Sanford said.
The proposal is being pushed by
Republican Sens. Bob Corker of
Tennessee, James Lankford of Okla-
homa and Jeff Flake of Arizona. It is
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
President Donald Trump, center, walks with Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.,
left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., right, as he
arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday.
picking up steam in the GOP-controlled
Senate, even if it could land with a thud
in the GOP-controlled House.
Corker said he has received assur-
ances from Republican Senate leaders
and the White House that some sort of
“trigger” would be added to the Senate
package that would increase taxes if
the economy doesn’t grow — and tax
revenues don’t increase — as much as
projected.
“While we are still working to
finalize the details, I am encouraged by
our discussions,” Corker said.
Senators are also considering a
companion proposal from Sen. Ted
Cruz, R-Texas, that would automatically
cut taxes further if the economy grows
faster than expected.
The overall package is a blend of
generous tax cuts for businesses and
more modest tax cuts for families and
individuals. It would mark the first time
in 31 years that Congress has overhauled
the tax code, making it the biggest legis-
lative achievement of President Donald
Trump’s first year in office.
An estimate by congressional
analysts says the Senate tax bill would
add $1.4 trillion to the budget deficit
over the next decade. GOP leaders
dispute the projection, saying tax cuts
will spur economic growth, reducing the
hit on the deficit.
Many economists disagree with
those projections. The trigger would be
a way for senators to test their economic
assumptions, with real consequences if
they are wrong.
A number of conservative groups
that are usually allied with Republicans
are slamming the idea.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
issued a statement calling the trigger
“impractical, unreasonable, and unnec-
essary.”
Trump tweet stokes anti-Muslim
sentiment; censured here and abroad
By CATHERINE LUCEY
and JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
—
Stoking the same anti-Islam
sentiments he fanned on
the campaign trail, Pres-
ident Donald Trump on
Wednesday retweeted a
string of inflammatory videos
from a fringe British political
group purporting to show
violence being committed by
Muslims.
The tweets drew a sharp
condemnation from British
Prime Minister Theresa
May’s office, which said it
was “wrong for the president
to have done this.” May
spokesman James Slack said
the far-right Britain First
group seeks to divide through
its use of “hateful narratives
which peddle lies and stoke
tensions.”
Trump turned away
from taxes, North Korea
and other issues facing his
administration to share the
three videos tweeted by
Jayda Fransen, deputy leader
of the British group. It was
not clear what drew him to
the videos, though one had
been shared by conservative
commentator Ann Coulter
the day before.
White House spokes-
woman Sarah Huckabee
Sanders said Trump was
simply promoting border
security and suggested that
verifying the content was not
a top concern.
“Whether it’s a real video,
the threat is real and that is
what the president is talking
about,” she said.
The tweets read: “VIDEO:
Islamist mob pushes teenage
boy off roof and beats him
to death!” and “VIDEO:
Muslim Destroys a Statue of
Virgin Mary!” and “VIDEO:
Muslim migrant beats up
Dutch boy on crutches!”
Trump
made
anti-
Muslim comments one
hallmark of his presidential
campaign and has previously
retweeted
inflammatory
posts from controversial
Twitter accounts including
some with apparent ties to
white nationalist groups. As
president, he has sought to
ban travel to the U.S. from a
number of majority-Muslim
countries.
Britain First opposes what
it calls the “Islamization” of
Britain. It has run candidates
in local and national elec-
tions, with little success, and
has campaigned against the
construction and expansion
of mosques.
Trump’s retweets gave
a wide platform to the
previously obscure group.
The videos were each shared
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One
on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday in
Washington.
Videos misrepresent what happened
WASHINGTON (AP) — Like much other propaganda,
the anti-Muslim videos spread around by President Donald
Trump mix grains of truth, fakery and shades in between,
overlaid with a message meant to be a blunt hammer blow
for a cause.
Trump’s penchant for sharing doctored images and
making false statements on Twitter means that content
tweeted or retweeted by the president should be viewed
skeptically. His spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders,
suggested the veracity of the videos wasn’t a high priority
amid concern over national security and strong borders,
saying: “Whether it’s a real video, the threat is real and that
is what the president is talking about.”
Here’s a look at known facts behind the videos tweeted
by a far-right British fringe group and retweeted by
President Trump:
FALSE: One video shows a young man attacking
another who is on crutches, near a river bank. It was
originally posted to a Dutch viral video site in May and
picked up by Dutch media. In her tweet, Jayda Fransen,
the deputy leader of Britain First, wrote: “VIDEO: Muslim
migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!” But the victim
was not attacked by a Muslim migrant.
“Facts do matter,” the Dutch Embassy in Washington
said in a tweet directed at Trump. “The perpetrator of
the violent act in this video was born and raised in the
Netherlands. He received and completed his sentence
under Dutch law.”
APPARENTLY TRUE: One video shows a man, said
to be a supporter of Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate then known
as the Nusra Front, smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary.
The Middle East Media Research Institute identified the
man as Sheikk Omar Raghba. In the video, he declares that
“idols” will no longer be worshipped in the Levant before he
smashes the statue, half his size, in the Yakubiya village in
northwestern Syria.
The circumstances are not verified, but the images ring
true. It’s well known that Islamic extremists target people
and objects of other faiths — Christians, Jews, Muslims
of other sects and movements — as well as indiscriminate
populations. Also well known: Anti-Muslim extremists
in the U.S. and other countries of the West have torched
mosques. The video appeared online in 2013.
more than 10,000 times, and
Fransen picked up nearly
10,000 Twitter followers in
the hours following Trump’s
retweets. She thanked him
on Twitter, saying “GOD
BLESS YOU TRUMP!”
Former Ku Klux Klan
leader David Duke also
welcomed
the
videos,
tweeting that Trump was
being “condemned for
showing us what the fake
news media WON’T. Thank
God for Trump! That’s why
we love him!”
Condemnation from civil
rights organizations was
swift.
The executive director
of the Council on Ameri-
can-Islamic Relations, Nihad
Awad, said in a statement
that Trump is “clearly telling
members of his base that
they should hate Islam and
Muslims.”
The American Civil
Liberties Union, in a tweet,
said, “Trump’s prejudice
against Muslims reveals
itself at every turn — with
today’s tweets meant to gin
up fear and bias.”
There are about 3.45
million Muslims in the
United States, according to
an August report from the
Pew Research Center.
One of the retweeted
videos from 2013 showed
a radical Islamist in Egypt
throwing a 9-year-old boy
off a roof. The video was
filmed in Egypt days after
the overthrow of Islamist
President
Mohammed
Morsi by Egypt’s military.
The perpetrators of the roof
violence were later sentenced
to death for killing the boy
and another man.
Another video shows a
man — said to be a supporter
of Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate
then known as the Nusra
Front — smashing a blue
and white statue of the Virgin
Mary. The video appeared on
the internet in October 2013,
in the midst of the Syrian
civil war, and was reported
by the Middle East Media
Research Institute, MEMRI.
The third video shows one
young man attacking another
young man on crutches. It
was originally posted to a
Dutch video site in May
2017 and picked up by
Dutch media the following
day. Two 16-year-old boys
were arrested, according to
De Telegraaf, and police
removed the video. The boys’
religion was not included in
any of the reports.
Fransen said in her tweet
that a “Muslim migrant
beats up Dutch boy on
crutches!” But a statement
from a spokesman for the
Dutch prosecution service
Wednesday said the boy was
not a migrant and was born
and raised in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands Embassy
in the United States also
weighed in with a tweet,
writing: “Facts do matter.
The perpetrator of the violent
act in this video was born and
raised in the Netherlands. He
received and completed his
sentence under Dutch law.”
East Oregonian
Page 7A
BRIEFLY
Nevada rancher refuses judge’s offer
of release during trial
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada rancher and states’
rights figure refused a federal judge’s offer to be free on
house arrest during his trial with two
sons on charges in an armed standoff
with government agents that stopped
a cattle round-up in 2014.
The 71-year-old rancher, Cliven
Bundy, declined Wednesday to be
freed while others are still in jail
awaiting trial in the case.
U.S. District Judge Gloria
Navarro said Ammon Bundy and
co-defendant Ryan Payne can be
freed Thursday to home detention.
Cliven Bundy
The judge also said another Bundy
son, Ryan Bundy, can now split time between home and
a halfway house while serving as his own attorney in the
case.
The decision involving the four defendants came amid
questions about whether federal prosecutors in Las Vegas
have turned over complete evidence records to defense
lawyers.
U.S. economy expanded at brisk
3.3 pct. pace in third quarter
WASHINGTON (AP) — Led by a rise in business
investment, the U.S. economy grew at an annual pace of
3.3 percent from July through September, its fastest rate
in three years.
The Commerce Department estimated Wednesday
that third-quarter growth exceeded the 3 percent annual
expansion for the period that it had initially reported last
month.
The performance, achieved despite damage from two
devastating hurricanes, marked the fastest expansion
in gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of
economic output — since a 5.2 percent annual spurt in
the third quarter of 2014.
The estimated growth for the July-September quarter
marked an improvement on 3.1 annual growth in the second
quarter and a 1.2 annual pace in the January-March quarter.
“The news on the economy had previously been
good, but it just got a little better,” said Jim Baird, chief
investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
Baird noted that the holiday shopping season
appears to be off to a strong start, “which bodes well for
consumer spending to propel the economy to a strong
finish to the year.”
Before the revised third-quarter numbers came out,
the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta was forecasting that
growth would rise to a 3.4 percent annual pace in the
final three months of 2017, which could bring growth for
the full year close to 2.8 percent. In 2016, the economy
grew just 1.5 percent.
Trump threatens major sanctions
after latest N. Korea missile
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration
threatened new sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday
after the reclusive government shattered 2½ months of
relative quiet with its most powerful weapon test yet,
an intercontinental ballistic missile that some observers
believe could reach Washington and the entire U.S.
Eastern Seaboard.
President Donald Trump tweeted that he spoke
with Chinese President Xi Jinping about Pyongyang’s
“provocative actions,” and he vowed that “additional
major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today.
This situation will be handled!” Trump’s top diplomat,
Rex Tillerson, said the U.S. could target financial
institutions doing business with the North.
The U.N. Security Council, meanwhile, was due to
hold an emergency meeting Wednesday.
The fresh deliberations about new forms of punish-
ment for North Korea came after its government said
it successfully fired a “significantly more” powerful,
nuclear-capable ICBM it called the Hwasong-15.
Outside governments and analysts concurred the North
had made a jump in missile capability.
AP source: Mueller’s team questioned
Kushner about Flynn
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s
son-in-law Jared Kushner has been questioned by special
counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators about
former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a person
familiar with the investigation confirmed Wednesday to
The Associated Press.
The person said the questioning of Kushner earlier
this month took about 90 minutes or less and was aimed
in part at establishing whether Kushner had any infor-
mation on Flynn that might be exculpatory. The person
said multiple White House witnesses have been asked
about their knowledge of Flynn, who was forced to
resign from the White House in February after officials
concluded he had misled them about his contacts with
the Russian ambassador.
The confirmation of Kushner’s interview came as
prosecutors working for Mueller postponed grand jury
testimony related to Flynn’s private business dealings.
The reason for the postponement was not immedi-
ately clear, but it comes one week after attorneys for
Flynn alerted Trump’s legal team that they could no
longer share information about the case. That discussion
between lawyers was widely seen as a possible
indication that Flynn was moving to cooperate with
Mueller’s investigation or attempting to negotiate a deal
for himself.
Lawyer: Conyers has no plan to
resign amid harassment claims
DETROIT (AP) — Embattled U.S. Rep. John
Conyers has no plans to resign amid allegations that the
congressman sexually harassed several women when
they worked on his staff, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Detroit-area attorney Arnold Reed told The Associated
Press that the 88-year-old Conyers is going to fight
claims that he inappropriately touched the women and
that anyone making the allegations should be prepared to
back them up.
Reed said Conyers is “innocent and will cooperate
with any investigation that ensues.”
“He’s going to fight these allegations tooth and nail if
he has to with evidence, with documentation, witnesses,
whatever he has to do,” Reed said. “And the accusers
will have to prove up their case.”
Last week, BuzzFeed News reported that Conyers had
settled a complaint in 2015 from a woman on his staff
who alleged she was fired because she rejected his sexual
advances.
BuzzFeed reported that Conyers’ office paid the
woman more than $27,000 in the confidential settlement.