Trump seeks to make strategy out of ‘America First’
December 19, 2017 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Comments Off
President TrumpDonald John TrumpHouse Democrat slams Donald Trump Jr. for ‘serious case of amnesia’ after testimony Skier Lindsey Vonn: I don’t want to represent Trump at Olympics Poll: 4 in 10 Republicans think senior Trump advisers had improper dealings with Russia MORE, on Monday, unveiled a new national security strategy aimed at delivering on the “America First” theme of his campaign and correcting what he sees as the mistakes of past presidents that damaged the United States’ standing in the world.
The 55-page document, drafted over the course of a year, places the United States in competition with “revisionist” powers like Russia and China that want to realign the world in their interests while eroding American security and prosperity.
“Whether we like it or not, we are engaged in a new era of competition,” Trump said during a speech meant to outline the strategy.
“We will attempt to build a great partnership with those and other countries,” the president said of Moscow and Beijing, as long as it “protects our national interest.”Trump’s rhetoric, however, diverged from the document’s tougher talk on Russia and China at times, raising questions about how significantly the strategy will reshape administration policy.
An animated Trump at one point hailed a recent phone call with Vladimir Putin in which the Russian leader thanked the administration for a counterterrorism tip.
Such cooperation is “the way it is supposed to work,” Trump said in a remark that seemed in line with the general approach he has taken toward Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump reiterated his campaign promises to strengthen U.S. borders and fight “radical Islamic terrorism,” a favorite term of the president that was not used in the strategy document. Trump also made it clear he is willing to buck the international community to get his way.
The president rattled off a number of moves he said delivered on those promises, including the withdrawal from the “job-killing” Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact and the “expensive and unfair” Paris climate accord.
He also promoted stock market gains, a strong jobs market and the expected passage of a tax bill in Congress as evidence of his success.
“A nation that does not protect prosperity at home cannot protect its interests abroad,” Trump said.
Every president is mandated by Congress to issue a national security strategy, which is designed to guide the administration’s decision making in foreign affairs.
The formal strategy articulates two broad themes of the Trump administration’s approach — what senior officials call “an unprecedented focus on homeland security and the border” and a greater emphasis on economic issues.
It asserts that “a nation without borders is not a nation,” calling for Trump’s signature campaign promise of a border wall and more recent demands to end so-called chain migration and the diversity visa lottery.
In a break with former administrations, the document does not include the goal of spreading democracy abroad, nor does it consider climate change to be a national security threat, as the Obama administration did.
While the strategy was meant to set a unified approach to tackling the world’s thorniest problems, Monday’s rollout showed the divisions within the Trump administration over Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 election.
The document calls out the “subversive tactics” Moscow uses to interfere “in the domestic political affairs in countries around the world,” including the use of “information tools” to “undermine the legitimacy of democracies.”
But it does not spell out in detail how the U.S. should confront Russia over its election meddling, even as it prescribed specific ways to address Chinese trade practices and alleged intellectual property theft.
Briefing the document to reporters on Sunday, senior officials identified Russia’s primary sin as the annexation of Crimea in 2014 — not election meddling.
Trump on Monday made no mention of the intelligence community’s belief that Moscow attempted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, an assessment that he has repeatedly declined to accept as fact.
The subject is a sore spot for the president, who has chafed at the special counsel investigation into whether his campaign cooperated with the Kremlin’s efforts to intervene in the election.
The omission laid bare the divisions between Trump and some senior officials in his administration. Deputy Attorney General Rod RosensteinRod Jay RosensteinDOJ failed to interview FBI informant before it filed charges in Russian nuclear bribery case Deputy AG Rosenstein: Charlottesville marchers advocated ‘racism and bigotry’ White House could use ethics rule to hamper special counsel on Russia: report MORE, who is overseeing the special counsel’s investigation, attended the speech, sitting in the front section.
Secretary of State Rex TillersonRex Wayne TillersonOvernight Defense: Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital | Mattis, Tillerson reportedly opposed move | Pentagon admits 2,000 US troops are in Syria | Trump calls on Saudis to ‘immediately’ lift Yemen blockade Trump has yet to name ambassadors to key nations in Mideast Mattis, Tillerson warned Trump of security concerns in Israel embassy move MORE, whom Trump has continually undercut on issues from Iran to North Korea, also attended the speech, arriving late and sitting off to the side.
Trump signaled flexibility in dealing with adversaries — even the so-called revisionist powers — an approach that the document labels as “principled realism” from a president who has styled himself as the consummate dealmaker.
Trump has touted his “chemistry” with Xi and said he “trusts” Putin, arguing that a better relationship with the two strongmen will translate to progress on matters of U.S. concern abroad.
And while the president seemed to take pleasure in spiking international agreements he said are bad for the country, he expressed his willingness to work with allies and partners to curb North Korea’s nuclear program and counter Iran in the Middle East.
“But,” Trump said, “while we seek such opportunities for cooperation, we will stand up for ourselves and we will stand up for our country like we have never stood up before.”
Share and Enjoy
Corker Says He Faced ‘Tough’ Decision in Supporting Republican Tax Bill
December 19, 2017 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Comments Off
His decision highlights the trade-offs that Republicans, who have long pushed for fiscal responsibility, are making as they seek to score their first legislative victory since assuming political control. The $1.5 trillion tax bill, which cuts taxes for businesses and individuals, is expected to add $1 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Rather than pay for those cuts, lawmakers are relying on rosy assumptions about economic growth and suggesting they will cut spending on programs like Medicare and Social Security to help bring down the deficit.
Mr. Corker has been the most vocal about the need to rein in the federal deficit. He voted against the initial Senate bill, the only Republican to do so, after party leaders rejected his request to require automatic tax increases down the road if the overhaul did not generate enough revenue to pay for itself.
As recently as last Wednesday, Mr. Corker said the final changes being made to the combined Senate and House bill had done little to assuage his concerns that his party was being fiscally reckless.
“My deficit concerns have not been alleviated,” said Mr. Corker, who lamented that the bill could have been improved with more time.
On Friday, Mr. Corker stunned many in Washington when he said he would back the tax bill, which, while imperfect, would still be good for the country.
Opponents of the tax plan immediately searched for a motive in the hope that they could alter his vote in the narrowly-held Senate. With just a 52-to-48 majority in the Senate, Republicans have little room for defections given that Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, is receiving medical treatment in his home state and is not expected to return to Washington in time for the vote. On Monday, two additional Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine, said they would vote yes.
As new details in the tax bill came to light over the weekend, an article published by the International Business Times suggested that Mr. Corker’s vote was won in exchange for a last-minute provision that would benefit real estate developers by making it easier for them to take advantage of a new, more generous tax structure for so-called pass-through businesses, whose owners pay taxes on profits through the individual code.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Mr. Corker, who was active in the real estate business in Tennessee before becoming a senator, retains a financial stake in companies that could benefit from the change.
Critics of the Republican tax overhaul adopted a new rallying cry to criticize a bill that they say is packed with advantages for the rich: “The Corker Kickback.”
Mr. Corker, in the interview, called the accusations ”disheartening” and said that he had not changed anything in the final bill.
What’s in the Final Republican Tax Bill
The legislation would cut taxes for corporations. American taxpayers, in large part, would also get cuts, though most of the changes affecting them would expire after 2025.
“There’s nothing to buy me off with,” Mr. Corker said.
On Sunday, Mr. Corker sent a letter to Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the Republican chairman of the Finance Committee, asking that he explain how the provision became included in the bill.
“Because this issue has raised concerns, I would ask that you provide an explanation of the evolution of this provision and how it made it into the final conference report,” Mr. Corker wrote. “I think that because of many sensitivities, clarity on this issue is very important and hope that you will respond in an expeditious manner.”
Newsletter Sign Up
Continue reading the main story
Thank you for subscribing.
An error has occurred. Please try again later.
You are already subscribed to this email.
Mr. Hatch, in a letter issued on Monday morning, defended Mr. Corker and said he was “disgusted” by reports that suggested Mr. Corker had played a role in the provision’s addition. He said Mr. Corker had wanted a less generous pass-through exemption than had been included.
“I am unaware of any attempt by you or your staff to contact anyone on the conference committee regarding this provision or any related policy matter,” Mr. Hatch wrote. “To the contrary, virtually all the concerns you had raised in the past about the treatment of pass-through businesses in tax reform were to voice skepticism about the generosity of various proposals under consideration.”
In fact, the Senate bill that Mr. Corker voted against already contained big benefits for the real estate industry. In large part, that is because of a provision cutting taxes for the owners of pass-through entities. Such businesses, like partnerships and limited liability companies, do not pay taxes themselves, but instead pass through their tax liabilities to their owners. Currently, such income is taxed at rates as high as 39.6 percent. But under the Senate bill, much of that income could be taxed at a rate as low as 29.6 percent. The bill limited those tax savings, partly by pegging the lower taxes to the size of a company’s workforce.
The final bill released on Friday included a new provision permitting the real estate industry to take advantage of the lower tax rate, tying the savings to the value of their properties — regardless of their size or their number of employees. Mr. Hatch said he had inserted the provision after discussions with the House and Senate negotiators writing the final bill and a congressional leadership aide pointed out that a version of it was in the House bill.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Democrats remain unconvinced, and they have taken to social media to voice their concerns.
“There really isn’t any other good explanation is there?” Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, wrote on Twitter, suggesting that the provision was the reason that Mr. Corker decided to back the bill.
Others, however, suggested that Mr. Corker’s change of heart was more political than financial and that he did not want to be the lone Senate Republican to vote against his party’s tax bill.
“The conspiratorial speculation about Corker’s real estate pass-through holdings seems thin to me,” said Scott Greenberg, a tax analyst at the conservative Tax Foundation. “Perhaps a simpler explanation for Corker’s flip is that his vote wasn’t needed before but is needed now.”
In Tennessee, Mr. Corker’s intended vote was welcomed on Monday.
“We’re very happy with his final position,” said Bradley Jackson, the president of Tennessee’s Chamber of Commerce, who had discussions with Mr. Corker and his office in recent weeks.
Mr. Corker said his turnaround came after he engaged in deep discussions with business groups in Tennessee and around the country, the Republican leadership in Congress, his Senate colleagues and his wife. He also spent many private moments considering how to vote, meditating over the question on the balcony of the Senate chamber.
While Mr. Corker said it was “not something that’s pleasant” to be the only Senate Republican to oppose the tax bill, his colleagues were generally respectful of his decision and only prodded him gently.
In the end, Mr. Corker was convinced that the additional debt that the tax bill would pile on was manageable relative to the country’s $43 trillion balance sheet and that businesses in his home state should have the opportunity for the additional foreign investment and other benefits that he believed the tax cuts would facilitate.
He said that he planned to make fiscal restraint a priority next year as Republicans move on to other initiatives like infrastructure and wanted to ensure that any legislation to help rebuild America’s roads and bridges was actually paid, and not financed, through deficit spending. After 2018, when his term expires, Mr. Corker’s future is less clear. But he said he was not ruling out running for office again in some capacity.
The final bill was not a ‘home run,’” Mr. Corker said, noting that he was at peace with his choice.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
“I feel like it was the right decision. I have no qualms about it,” Mr. Corker said.
Continue reading the main story