Latest news with #DougHeye
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trump's Hill Visit Ends Without A Deal
"Balance of Power: Late Edition" focuses on the intersection of politics and global business. On today's show, Doug Heye, Former RNC Communications Director, on Speaker Johnson's tax bill progress. Kori Schake, Senior Fellow & Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, shares her thoughts on talks between President Trump & President Putin. Rep. Frank Pallone (D) New Jersey discusses the tax bill and talks about how the tax cuts in the proposed legislation will benefit large corporations with cuts to Medicaid paying for them. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP talks on millionaire tax hike come from party's populist streak, strategists say
An aversion to tax increases has long been one of the Republican Party's core pillars, but tradition was upended in recent weeks as discussions of a potential new millionaires' tax hike hit Capitol Hill. It's baffled some members of the GOP's old guard, though Republican operatives who spoke with Fox News Digital were less surprised. They said those conversations were largely ushered in by the party's growing populist wing. "I'm not sure if I'm surprised anymore, because the party has changed so much in just a short period of time. But it is noteworthy," longtime GOP strategist Doug Heye told Fox News Digital. Heye recalled his time as a senior House leadership aide in 2012, when a Republican proposal for a uniform tax rate for people making under $1 million per year was blown up "by a rebellion within our own ranks" over raising taxes. White House Quietly Floats Millionaire Tax Hike Proposal In Congress As Gop Leaders Signal Opposition "It all exploded in our faces," he said. "And now this is what more and more of those Republicans who rejected the idea in 2012 want to do." Read On The Fox News App Sources told Fox News Digital this month that the White House was socializing a plan among Republicans to create a new 40% tax bracket for people making more than $1 million. Various reported plans floated among House Republicans included raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy to rates between 38% and 40%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has been seeking to quash that this week, even posting a purported message from President Donald Trump himself on X that said, "If you can do without it, you're probably better off trying to do so." Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Wednesday morning for comment on Gingrich's note, including the context of the message and why Trump described that he would "love" increasing taxes, but did not receive a reply. The top income tax rate is currently about 37% on $609,351 in earnings for a single person or $731,201 for married couples. It was lowered from just over 39% by Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. "The politics are good for raising taxes on wealthy Americans," said John Feehery, a partner at EFB Advocacy and veteran of House GOP leadership staff. "The downside is it does have an impact on economic growth. So if you want the cheap political score, that's the way to go. On the other hand, if you want a solid economy where people are working, you want to be careful on how you do that." Asked if the discussions caught him off guard, Feehery said, "I'm not surprised by it because Trump is such a populist, and he has a lot of folks who are populist." He signaled the appeal of higher taxes for the wealthy was born from that shift. "If you look at the constituencies, the biggest constituency, it's really interesting because the parties have kind of changed," he continued. "It used to be the country-club Republicans and working-class Democrats; now it's working-class Republicans and country-club Democrats." Heye said when asked about the increase in tax hike talks, "I think it's a mixture of Trump and populism." "Raising taxes used to be an anathema to Republicans, and you know, when George Bush did it after saying 'Read my lips,' that was the beginning of the end of his presidency," Heye said. "That world just doesn't exist anymore." House GOP leaders have publicly made clear that they're opposed to raising taxes on anyone. But Republicans must find a way to pass Trump's budget, including new tax policies eliminating duties on tipped and overtime wages, while meeting conservatives' demand to cut at least $1.5 trillion in government spending to make up for it. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., previously signaled that he is open to the idea if spending cuts can't be reached by other means. "What I'd like to do is, I'd actually like to find spending reductions elsewhere in the budget, but if we can't get enough spending reductions, we're going to have to pay for our tax cuts," Harris told "Mornings with Maria" on FOX Business last week. Scoop: Pence Urges Republicans To Hold The Line On Tax Hikes For The Rich As Trump Weighs Options "Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the highest tax bracket was 39.6%; it was less than $1 million. Ideally, what we could do – again, if we can't find spending reductions – we say, 'OK, let's restore that higher bracket, let's set it at maybe $2 million income and above' to help pay for the rest of the president's agenda." Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., similarly floated raising the top tax bracket to 38.6%. He later told Fox News Digital in a statement, "I believe we must help the president deliver on his promise of a tax and regulatory plan that supports pro-American economic and manufacturing growth, and delivers for the vast majority of Americans – while creating savings and promoting fiscal responsibility. Any adjustments in taxes to accomplish these goals should be considered." Both Meuser and Harris declined to provide more comment for this story. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who refers to the 2017 tax cuts as the "Trump-Pence tax cuts," last week urged House Republicans to stand firm against raising taxes on the country's top earners and to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent. One House GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital last week that reaction among their colleagues to possible tax hikes was "mixed." But a former Republican member was skeptical on Wednesday. "Raising taxes is a short-term high, which ultimately does more harm than good," the former House Republican said. "This strategy is contrary to conservative values." Meanwhile, Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said it was "healthy" that lawmakers are entertaining fiscal ideas outside their party norms. He was wary about the push for a tax hike, however. "I'm not a fan of doing things that look fiscally good at the same time that you're doing things that actually are fiscally bad … on top of that, I don't think raising tax rates is the best way to raise revenue," Goldwein said. "But with those two things said, I think it is very healthy move that the GOP kind of is talking about that rates actually can go in both directions." Fox News Digital reached out to Gingrich for an interview for this story but did not receive a response. Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this article source: GOP talks on millionaire tax hike come from party's populist streak, strategists say
Boston Globe
03-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Trump is trying to use tariffs to impose his will on the economy. It doesn't work like that.
Starting Thursday, the United States will levy significantly higher tariffs on imports, he declared, a minimum of 10 percent and in some cases higher based on what other countries charge on US products. Goods from the European Union will face a 20 percent tariff and Chinese goods will be hit with a 34 percent tariff. All foreign-made automobiles will be subject to a 25 percent tariff, he said. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Those tariffs and ones already in place will cause prices here to rise in the short term, economists said. But consumers, business owners, investors, and foreign officials don't fall under Trump's executive authority. And he can't order people to keep buying goods with a stroke of his pen. Advertisement And they've already shown that they won't bow to Trump's dictates on the economy. In recent weeks, major stock indices have tumbled while consumer and business confidence has declined after Trump increased tariffs on certain imports, such as aluminum and steel, and vowed that other higher tariffs were on their way. Major trading partners struck back, levying their own tariffs on US exports. Advertisement All the uncertainty and fears of a major global trade war have led ' Trump, who was elected in large part on his promise to immediately reduce high prices, has seen his approval rating on the economy drop. The tariffs announced Wednesday are only going to make matters worse for Trump, at least in the short term, economists said, because they are paid by US importers when foreign goods enter the country. Those businesses usually pass the higher prices on to customers. 'The initial concern is that prices are going to rise on a lot of goods very quickly,' said Republican strategist Doug Heye. 'For The political risk was evident Wednesday night, when by the Republican-controlled Senate was a rebuke to Trump just hours after his tariff announcement, even if it is likely to stall in the House. Advertisement 'We have support left, right, and center, because people don't want Americans to have to struggle to pay more for groceries, pay more for building supplies, pay more for apple pie, for God's sake,' Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, the measure's sponsor, said Wednesday. He said Democrats are pounding away at Trump's failure to bring down prices so far, and the price increases expected from the new tariffs, which they've labeled the equivalent of a new national sales tax. 'This is not 'Liberation Day.' It's 'Recession Day' in the United States of America,' House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Wednesday. 'That's what the Trump tariffs are going to do — crash the economy.' Tariffs traditionally have not boosted domestic production or economic growth, in part because other nations usually respond with their own tariffs. A global trade war caused by the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in 1930 helped turn a steep recession into the Great Depression. 'In his first term, the bulk of the [cost of] tariffs were borne by American consumers,' Zandi said of the more limited tariffs Trump imposed after he first took office in 2017. ' Advertisement The uncertainty about the tariffs has led to a selloff in financial markets. Trump's announcement Wednesday won't end the uncertainty because he could change them at any moment and his use of emergency powers to impose them could be challenged in court. Trump is very cognizant of the stock market, even boasting on Wednesday about how well it did during his first term, so a negative reaction could lead him to back down as he did in January, said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital, an investment advisory firm. 'I don't think President Trump wants to have a recession or a bear market named after him,' Ablin said. 'So I think he's paying attention.' Trump has acknowledged Still, Americans aren't sold on tariffs helping their economic situation. A 'He's playing with political fire because he's already in a downward trajectory' on the economy in the polls,' said Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg. 'He promised he would lower prices and he's betrayed that promise and I don't think voters are going to respond to these actions favorably.' Trump has argued Americans needs to put up with some short-term pain for long-term gain. The problem is, economists say there's unlikely to be any long-term economic gains from the tariffs. Advertisement 'You can't change the laws of economics,' Zandi said. 'You can influence it, but you can't change it with an executive order.' Jim Puzzanghera can be reached at
