GOP/TAXES: “Sen. Susan Collins on Sunday [11-19-17] recited a list of concerns she had with the Republican tax bill barreling through the Senate, raising pressure on the party’s leadership to slow its progress and make changes to secure passage…
Ms. Collins is one of a small group of senators whose opposition could block the bill. The GOP controls 52 votes in the Senate and can afford to lose only two for the legislation to pass. The bill is slated for a vote after Thanksgiving.
On Sunday, Ms. Collins said the Senate bill should reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% to 22%, not 20% as in the current bill, and use the extra revenue to retain the individual deduction for state and local taxes. The Senate bill currently would eliminate that deduction…
She also said the top individual tax rate should remain at 39.6%, as in the House bill and in current law, rather than the 38.5% rate in the Senate bill.
She said a provision in the Senate bill that would repeal the requirement that most individuals carry health insurance or pay a penalty shouldn’t be part of a final tax package, but if it is included, it should be accompanied by a measure stabilizing insurance markets and lowering premiums. Stripping the individual mandate repeal would remove about $318 billion in money that provision had freed up, forcing the Senate to make up the difference elsewhere to fund the rate cuts.”
-Harriet Torry and Gabriel T. Rubin, “Key GOP Senator Cites Concerns Over Senate Tax Bill,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 19, 2017 12:41pm