GOP/TAXES: “Congress stands on the verge of passing a $1.5 trillion tax cut and the largest structural overhaul of the tax system since 1986.
The Senate passed the tax-overhaul bill, 51-48, around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday after it sailed through the House on a 227-203 vote on Tuesday.
A last-minute glitch because of Senate rules forced Republican leaders to schedule another vote in the House later on Wednesday [12-20-17] morning.
The result isn’t likely to be any different, and the measure will head to President Donald Trump for his signature. He may sign it this week if Congress separately waives automatic spending cuts that the tax bill would trigger, but if not, he might wait until January, which would delay those cuts, said White House economic adviser Gary Cohn.
The White House will host members of the House and Senate Wednesday afternoon to mark the passage of the tax bill, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, adding that Mr. Trump will sign the bill at a later date…
Still, it is more than just a collection of tax cuts. It includes a fundamental rethinking of business taxation and international tax rules, and Republicans are challenging some cherished and once-sacrosanct tax breaks, shrinking the deduction for state and local taxes and making the mortgage-interest deduction less valuable.”
-Richard Rubin, “Congress Is on Brink of Tax Overhaul,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 20, 2017 09:58am