Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Highlights of the GOP tax plan. It proposes to simplify the tax system, cut taxes for the middle class, and reduce taxes on businesses and corporations. Passage is a priority for President Donald Trump and Republicans, who are hoping for a major legislative victory to cite going into the 2018 elections. —Income tax rates: Would sets four income tax rates of 12 percent, 25 percent, 35 percent and 39.6 percent. The 25 percent rate would start at $90,000 for married couples, with a 35 percent rate beginning to bite at $260,000 — which means many upper-income families whose...

House Republicans claim the tax plan they introduced Thursday keeps the top individual rate unchanged at 39.6 percent—the level at which it’s been capped for much of the past quarter-century. But a little-noticed provision effectively creates a new band in which income is taxed at over 45 percent.

House Republicans will propose limiting the deductions for mortgage interest and state and local taxes in the tax bill they are releasing on Thursday, according to a summary of the legislation obtained by The Hill. The bill, called the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” largely follows the parameters that GOP leaders and the White House outlined in September. It would reduce the number of individual tax brackets, slash rates for businesses and eliminate a number of tax breaks. In order to offset the costs of the legislation, Republicans are putting forward some proposals that are sure to be controversial. The...

The long-awaited Ways and Means version of the Republican tax-reform bill has finally emerged from its back-room efforts to stave off any defections in the House and Senate. House GOP leadership launched the bill with a cheery press conference, with members clearly relieved at having a bill to move forward. It includes parts of several trial balloons, and excludes one in particular that backfired badly enough to earn a rebuke from Donald Trump.CNBC breaks down the changes: As part of that reform package, the GOP aims to permanently lower the corporate tax rate to 20 percent.The House bill would...

RUSH: I’ve had more time to look into this and there are parts of this thing, folks, that are so frustrating. It’s just so damn frustrating. It’s just out-of-my-mind frustrating. We run the House, we run the Senate, we have the White House — and still, it’s like we have a bunch of Republicans who don’t even have the courage to be conservative. They’ve lost their conservative ideals, ’cause they’re playing the same old game that the Democrats love to play: Class envy. They’re making a big deal out of taxing the rich; they’re holding on to the children’s health...