The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:22 PM

President Trump Heads Back To Washington D.C. After 12-Day Asia Trip To Push Tax Reform

President Trump, who is winding down his 12-day Asia trip, took to Twitter early Tuesday to express excitement about heading back to the U.S. to work on his tax overhaul legislation Republicans claim benefit the middle class.

Trump will meet with House Republicans on Thursday ahead of an expected vote on the tax overhaul legislation. The decision underscores the political stakes for Trump, who lacks a major legislative achievement after nearly a year in office.

Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Excited to be heading home to see the House pass a GREAT Tax Bill with the middle class getting big TAX CUTS!#MakeAmericaGreatAgain🇺🇸
9:21 PM - Nov 13, 2017
13,936 13,936 Replies 10,728 10,728 Retweets 51,879 51,879 likes
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Trump's planned pitch on Capitol Hill, after returning from his Asia trip, was disclosed by a White House official who wasn't authorized to discuss publicly the president's schedule and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Promoted as needed relief for the middle class, the House and Senate bills would deeply cut corporate taxes, double the standard deduction used by most Americans, and limit or repeal completely the federal deduction for state and local property, income and sales taxes. Republican leaders in Congress view passage of the first major tax revamp in 30 years as imperative for the GOP to preserve its majorities in next year's elections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asked whether the Senate's proposed repeal of the property tax deduction could bring higher taxes for some middle-class Americans, acknowledged there would be some taxpayers who end up with higher tax bills.

"Any way you cut it, there is a possibility that some taxpayers would get a higher rate," McConnell told reporters after a forum in Louisville, Kentucky, with local business owners and employees. "You can't craft any tax bill that guarantees that every single taxpayer in America gets a tax break. What I'm telling you is the overall majority of taxpayers in every bracket would get relief."

In the meantime, Trump tweeted into the debate Monday by urging Republican leaders to get more aggressive in the tax legislation. He called for a steeper tax cut for wealthy Americans and the addition of a contentious health care change to the already complex mix.

At the same time, a nonpartisan analysis of the Senate version of the tax overhaul legislation showed it actually would increase taxes for some 13.8 million moderate-income American households.

The assessment by Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation emerged as the Senate's tax-writing committee began debating and working through the measure.