"You say stop, and I say go." CBO’s new cost estimate of the American Health Care Act isn’t much better than the last one, as TPC Director Mark Mazur explains. The bill would reduce the deficit by $119 billion over ten years, about a third as much as an earlier version of the bill. The score also shows that an additional 23 million would be without insurance by 2026, down a million from the earlier bill. This score is not likely to improve the AHCA's popularity inside or outside the beltway.
“I say high, you say low:” The Treasury Secretary and the debt limit. Yesterday Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged the House Ways & Means Committee “to raise the debt limit before you leave for the summer. We can all discuss how we cut spending in the future.” The Trump Administration seeks to raise the debt limit from $19.8 trillion to as much as $20 trillion, but GOP conservatives are anxious to cut spending. Treasury has been using “extraordinary measures” to pay government bills since March when the federal borrowing limit expired.
“You say why and I say I don’t know:” The Speaker and prospects for a BAT. Speaker Paul Ryan told Axios that it’s possible that the border-adjustable tax won’t end up in a tax reform package. But if that’s where negotiations lead, the plan will need to find another way to broaden the tax base. He wants a tax reform bill on President Trump’s desk by December 23.
Uber says “uh-oh,” “oops,” and “sorry.” The online ride-sharing platform discovered that it’s been taking too much from its New York City drivers’ earnings by calculating its commissions based on pre-tax fares. As The New York Times explains, “If a passenger handed over $20, and $2 of that represented taxes, Uber’s commission was a percentage of the full $20, not of $18, as it should have been… the cumulative difference was vast.” That difference since 2015 could exceed $200 million in improper commission deductions in New York City alone. Uber has committed to paying back every driver with interest. The bigger issue remains: Should the whole $2 of tax come out the driver’s wallet?
“I don’t know why you say goodbye and I say hello” in Kansas. House lawmakers tweaked details of a new tax plan to raise $952 million over two years. Under the plan, Kansas would still have only two tax brackets as enacted under Governor Brownback in 2012, but the lower rate would climb from 2.7 percent to 3 percent on annual taxable income under $15,000, while the rate on income above that level would go from 4.6 percent to 5 percent. The state needs the money to cover its $887 budget shortfall and aid public schools. Lawmakers hope Brownback will accept this plan or that they can override his veto.
“Hello, hello:” Perhaps a tariff on imported solar panels? The International Trade Commission is investigating whether to assess a tax on imported solar panels after a complaint from bankrupt US solar panel manufacturer Suniva. The company accuses China and other Asian nations of flooding the market and wants the ITC to impose emergency tariffs and price floors for four years.
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