GOP/TAXES: “Republican leaders moved closer on Wednesday [12-6-17] to resolving some key differences between the House and Senate tax bills, though several big issues, including the size of the corporate tax cut, remained in flux…
Once the conference committee process begins, lawmakers will begin formally hashing out the remaining differences, including what to do about the corporate alternative minimum tax, which crept back into the Senate bill as a late addition. The chambers are also debating how to treat the deduction that many people take for high medical expenses, a provision that is repealed by the House but expanded by the Senate.
Complicating the discussions is the need to ensure that the overall bill stays in the $1.5 trillion bucket lawmakers have budgeted for the cuts. All the changes under discussion would cost money, requiring lawmakers to find ways to offset the effect on the deficit. Lawmakers continued to debate whether to increase the corporate tax rate to 22 percent from the proposed 20 percent, an idea that President Trump appeared to support over the weekend…
Republican lawmakers are looking to quickly resolve differences so they can get the bill signed and to Mr. Trump by Christmas.”
-Alan Rappeport, “Republicans Move to Resolve Tax Bill Differences as Cost Concerns Loom,” The New York Times online, Dec. 6, 2017