CNBC commentator Larry Kudlow named NEC director. President Trump extended the offer to direct the White House National Economic Council to cable television personality Larry Kudlow yesterday, and Kudlow accepted. Kudlow served as an adviser during the president’s 2016 campaign and worked with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in developing the White House tax plan. Kudlow is not a fan of tariffs, like his predecessor Gary Cohn.
Trump, tariffs, and tax cuts. The president touted the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as he toured a Boeing factory in St. Louis yesterday, but did not mention the potential impact of his tariff plan on Boeing. The New York Times explains how the manufacturing exporter has the most at stake in a trade fight — especially in China. Meanwhile, promoting the TCJA in Pennsylvania didn’t seem to help the GOP in the 18th district’s special election, but conservative groups will still spend advertising dollars on the TCJA in upcoming Missouri and Indiana races.
Will the omnibus spending bill include a DACA deal to fund a border wall? What about a grain glitch fix? GOP officials told The Washington Post that President Trump is willing to protect young immigrants from deportation for a certain amount of time in exchange for border wall funding. Meanwhile, lawmakers and agricultural companies hope that the omnibus spending bill includes their fix to the “grain glitch” which allows farmers bigger tax savings if they sell crops to agricultural cooperatives. The federal government’s spending authority expires on March 23.
New Jersey considers a new budget—with lots of tax increases. To fund a $37.4 billion state budget, Democratic Governor Phil Murphy proposes to tax online-room booking, ride-sharing, marijuana, e-cigarettes, and online transactions. He’d also raise taxes on millionaires and retail sales. Spending would increase on schools, pensions and mass transit. New Jersey faces an estimated $8.7 billion structural deficit in the fiscal year starting July 1.
Millionaires’ tax in California boosts mental health program funding in Los Angeles County. Revenues from a statewide tax passed in 2004 to fund mental health services has expanded access to therapy and case management to almost 130,000 young people in the county, according to a report by the Rand Corporation. Many of those served are poor and from minority communities. Proposition 63 imposes a 1 percent tax on people who earn more than $1 million annually, and raises about $2 billion each year.
Budget stress in the United Kingdom. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that the government will need to raise taxes annually by about £40 billion in order to maintain public spending levels, cover the cost of social services, health and pension costs, and balance its budget by 2025.
Thailand plans to regulate and tax cryptocurrencies. The country’s executive branch has provisionally passed two royal decree drafts that would regulate both cryptocurrency and initial coin offering transactions. The effort also allows for a tax on crypto capital gains, perhaps between 10 and 15 percent.
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