Clinton To Flesh Out Business Tax Reform
Clinton offer manufacturing plan today. Detroit News: “… the former U.S. secretary of state and will roll out a plan giving manufacturers a 39 percent tax credit on equity investments in towns that experience major job losses … eligible cities [could] choose an alternative zero percent capital gains tax option for companies that invest in manufacturing over a five-year period.”
Clinton to offer more details on corporate tax reform tomorrow. WSJ: “Hillary Clinton’s plan to deter companies from leaving the U.S. will include an ‘exit tax,’ her campaign said Monday, making it even more restrictive than President Barack Obama’s proposals … [She] will speak about corporate taxes on Wednesday in Iowa. The aide said she would unveil ‘another major component’ of her plan then.”
Sanders resists pressure to focus on national security. W. Post quotes: “…I am more than aware that we have got to do everything we can not only to crush ISIS, but to defend the American people … [But] I also believe it would be extremely unfair to tens of millions of Americans who working longer hours for lower wages, it would be terribly unfair to middle-class families who today cannot afford to send their kids to college, it would be terribly unfair to 29 million Americans who have no health insurance, to simply say we’re not going to talk about the decline of the American middle class…”
Sen. Warren offers some praise for Clinton oped on Wall Street reform. W. Post quotes: “Whether it’s attacking the C.F.P.B., undermining new rules to rein in unscrupulous retirement advisers, or rolling back any part of the hard-fought progress we’ve made on financial reform, she and I agree.”
Congress Stalled
Congress still stuck on bill to fund government. The Hill: “…lawmakers will [likely] need to pass a short-term measure to avert a [Friday] shutdown … Obama [said he] wouldn’t support any effort to dismantle the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform law or toughen screenings for Syrian refugees … Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that it’s the Republican ‘poison pill’ riders that remain the sticking point.”
GOP leadership tries to tamp down anti-refugee push. Politico: “The House will vote Tuesday to tighten restrictions on visa-free travel by visitors to the U.S. GOP leaders privately hope that the vote will take pressure off them to include additional certifications for Syrian and Iraqi refugees to the U.S. in the must-pass spending bill.”
“Chance for a Year-End Tax Deal Is Fading” reports WSJ: “Republican and Democratic negotiators have been working for weeks to reach a deal that would let each side turn some of its favored temporary breaks into permanent policy, including the research and development tax credit and expanded tax credits for low-income and middle-income families … But odds are increasing that Congress will turn to its fallback plan – a proposal that would revive breaks that lapsed at the end of 2014 through the end of 2016.”
“Cadillac Tax” repeal may lose out. The Hill: “A senior GOP lawmaker on Monday said action on the Cadillac tax would depend on whether negotiators reach a broad tax deal, or instead fall back on a narrower package.”
Ex-Im Bank restored but fight isn’t over. NYT: …an obstacle remains: With three empty seats on its five-member board, the bank lacks a quorum. Until Mr. Obama nominates members, and the Republican-controlled Senate confirms them, Ex-Im Bank can only approve small export deals, not the big orders for aircraft, satellites and major manufacturing equipment the bank is best known for — leaving the likes of Boeing, General Electric and Caterpillar in limbo … The White House will send nominees for the board to the Senate soon…”
Paris Breakthrough?
Developed nations willing to accept stronger target for emission cuts. The Nation: “… the final agreement governments hope to sign by week’s end may urge limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This would represent a major shift from the current international goal of 2 degrees C as well as a historic—and surprising—victory for the world’s poor and most vulnerable nations … the 1.5 degrees C target has reemerged at the Paris summit due to a confluence of factors: increased recognition by many wealthy countries that even 2 degrees C will bring ruinous changes to food, water, and other vital systems…”
But some skeptical of motivation. The Guardian: “Erich Pica, the director of Friends of the Earth US, accused the rich countries of backing vulnerable states on the 1.5C goal to crowd out bigger developing countries … ‘they are blurring of the lines on what has to happen to have a just and fair sharing of the 1.5C equation.'”
“Carbon emission growth to stall in 2015” reports The Hill: “According to a study from the University of East Anglia and the Global Carbon Project, emissions from burning fossil fuels could fall by as much as 0.6 percent this year, after it grew by only 0.6 percent last year … If 2015 plays out as the research suggests, this would be the first time there’s been a decline during a time of global economic growth.”
