Re: Report: Budget director to tell federal agencies to prepare for major cuts
The Donald gonna balance the budget within 10 years...
WH Budget Director: This Budget Reaches Balance Within 10 Years and Considers the Taxpayer
May 23, 2017 | White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday unveiled the president's budget, titled the "New Foundation for American Greatness," saying it balances for the first time in 10 years. "This plan will reduce publicly held debt to 60 percent of GDP, the lowest level since 2010, when the economic policies of the last administration took effect," an executive summary of the budget stated.
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The budget includes $3.6 trillion in spending reductions - "the most proposed by any President in a Budget - to reach balance within 10 years." The budget will repeal and replace Obamacare, reforming Medicaid, provide a path toward welfare reform, reduce government waste from improper payments throughout the government, redirect foreign aid spending, and reduce non-defense spending and redefine "the proper role of the federal government."
Mulvaney said the budget really should have been called the Taxpayer First Budget, because they looked at the budget through the eyes of the taxpayer. "For years and years, we simply looked at a budget in terms of the folks who were on the back end of the program - the recipients of the taxpayer money - and we haven't spent nearly enough time focusing our attention on the people who pay the taxes," the budget director said. "Compassion needs to be on both sides of that equation," he said. "I put myself in the role of the person who's actually taking the money from you as a taxpayer - and giving the money to someone else in terms of a benefit, and if I can look you in the eye and say, 'look, I need to take this money from you so that I can help this injured vet,' I can do that in good conscience. I can look you in the eye, and my guess is, you're okay with that," Mulvaney said. "I am a lot less comfortable to the point of not wanting to look you in the eye and say, look, I need to take this money from you and give to this person over here who really isn't disabled, but is getting a disabled benefit, or this person over here, who is supposed to use the money to go to school but it isn't actually going, or a program that's supposed to encourage you to graduate … from college but is only 6 percent effective. That's the type of compassion we talk about. That's the type of different perspective that we bring to the budget," he added.
The budget also funds the president's priorities, which he mentioned on the campaign trail: national security, border security, veterans, school choice, nationwide parental leave. "We also increased spending for school choice and paid parental leave, making this president the first president of either party to propose a nationwide paid parental leave program for parents and adoptive parents," Mulvaney said. Furthermore, the budget "begins to reduce the size of the debt relative to the size of the economy in year one," Mulvaney said. Mulvaney said Trumponomics can be defined as sustained 3 percent economic growth. According to Mulvaney, the budget does not cut core Social Security benefits and does not cut Medicare benefits.
WH Budget Director: This Budget Reaches Balance Within 10 Years and Considers the Taxpayer
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Treasury Secretary: ‘About 100 People’ Working on Tax Reform at Treasury
May 19, 2017 | “There are about 100 people working at the Treasury on the issue of tax reform,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. “It is our goal to bring relief to middle-income Americans and make American business competitive again. We will do this all while simplifying the tax system.”
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Mnuchin noted it has been more than 30 years since the nation has overhauled its tax code, and he said he believes that economic growth of three percent or more is achievable – “if we make historic reforms to both taxes and regulation.” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked Mnuchin if he would commit to no tax increase for families or individuals making less than $250,000 a year. “Let me just say that obviously tax reform is something that we are working on with the House and the Senate, but I can assure you that the president's objective and my objective is that we create a middle-income tax cut and that we do not raise taxes on the middle income. If anything, the opposite. We are trying to create a middle-income tax cut.
As for tax cuts for the rich – a familiar mantra of Democrats – Mnuchin said the administration wants to get rid of “almost every single deduction” that benefits wealthy taxpayers in exchanage for a “slight reduction in taxes.” “And our objective is that 95 percent of Americans won't need to use itemized deductions and will be able to fill out simplified tax returns. And we look forward to working with you as we progress on the details,” Mnuchin told Reed. Mnuchin also said he is “committed to make sure that rich people do not use pass-throughs as a loophole to pay lower rates.”
The so-called pass through provision allow some businesses (S corporations, limited liability companies, sole proprietorships, and partnerships) to avoid the corporate tax rate by passing through their profits to the owner’s individual tax returns, where the top rate is 39.6 percent. “So we do want small- and medium-sized businesses to have the benefit of lower rates but we will make sure that, you know, not every single accountant, lawyer, and doctor who should be paying higher personal rates sets up an LLC or a pass-through to get around the system,” Mnuchin said. The administration proposes cutting the rate on pass-through entities to 15 percent.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked Mnuchin, “Why is this administration giving the ultra-wealthy this massive tax cut?” “So I can assure you, and I've said this repeatedly, we are not going to allow all pass-throughs to get that rate," Mnuchin said. "We are going to make sure that small- and medium-size businesses have the benefit. “But we will put procedures in place, and I specifically said this, to make sure that people who should be paying higher taxes do not use pass throughs to arbitrage the system.” Mnuchin added, “There'll be a box that you have to check that says, I'm eligible for the business tax, which is 15 percent. And there will be qualifications around (that).” “It will not be available to everyone,” he added.
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04-10-2017, 12:07 PM
Report: Budget director to tell federal agencies to prepare for major cuts
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