Want To Help The Opioid Crisis? Pass Tax Reform

The United States is experiencing a drug epidemic the likes of which have not been seen here before. Beginning in the 1990s, doctors began widely prescribing a class of highly addictive pain medications called opioids for patients with mild to moderate pain.

Idaho businesses line up against non-compete law; ‘lie of the year'”…

More than 100 Idaho business leaders, ranging from high-tech CEOs to small-business owners to engineers, marketers and manufacturers, have signed a letter to Gov. Butch Otter and the Idaho Legislature calling for the repeal of a 2016 noncompete law that sharply limits the rights of employees who move to new firms. The law , which passed both houses by divided votes amid much controversy, took effect July 1, 2016.

Sanders calls GOP tax bill a “massive attack” on middle class

"At the end of the day what you had is people like [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin, who himself is worth $300 or $400 million dollars, or the president of the United States who is worth several billion dollars, as you mentioned, some 4,000 to 5,000 lobbyists doing everything that they could to write a bill which significantly benefits the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations," Sanders said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. Sanders said that Republicans will turn to cutting "Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid" to offset upwards of $1 trillion in lost revenue, a scenario he said was "grossly unfair" to middle class families.

GOP betting that its fix for US economy will defy warnings

The tax overhaul of 2017 amounts to a high-stakes gamble by Republicans in Congress: That slashing taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals will accelerate growth and assure greater prosperity for Americans for years to come. A wide range of economists and nonpartisan analysts have warned that the bill will likely escalate federal debt, intensify pressure to cut spending on social programs and further widen America's troubling income inequality.

Lawrence O’Donnell: How Tax Cut Bill Will Be Used To Cut Medicare, Social Security

On AM Joy, Joy Reid and Lawrence O'Donnell discussed how the supposedly deficit-hating Republicans have suddenly learned to love them. "They were looking for something like this, where can we squeeze in a tiny giveaway that goes to another income group, other than the rich," O'Donnell said.

Progressive Groups Want Doug Jones To Throw Caution To The Wind

Through a unique confluence of events, Democrat Doug Jones managed to defy the deeply Republican leanings of Alabama and win a special election on Tuesday to represent the state in the Senate. But without an alleged child predator like Republican Roy Moore on the ticket in 2020, Jones will almost certainly have an uphill climb to re-election.

Republicans Release Final Version Of Tax Bill, And It Appears Likely To Pass

House and Senate negotiators released the final version of their tax bill late yesterday , and after several tweaks to satisfy wayward Republican Senators it appears to be on track to pass both chambers of Congress next week and head to the President's desk before the Christmas break: Republican lawmakers appeared to secure enough votes on Friday to pass the most sweeping tax overhaul in decades, putting them on the cusp of their first significant legislative victory as leaders geared up to pass a $1.5 trillion tax cut along party lines and send it to President Trump by Christmas.

Highlights of GOP compromise bill to overhaul tax code

Republicans in Congress have blended separate tax bills passed by the House and Senate into compromise legislation that seeks to achieve a sweeping overhaul of the nation's tax code. GOP leaders are looking toward passage of the final package by the House and Senate next week, with the aim of sending the measure to President Donald Trump to sign before Christmas.

Sources: House, Senate leaders reach deal on tax package

This Sept. 27, 2017 file photo shows Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., center, joining Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other GOP lawmakers to talk about the Republicans' proposed rewrite of the tax code for individuals and corporations, at the Capitol in Washington.

Tax package would lower top tax rate for wealthy Americans

Congressional Republicans on Tuesday rushed toward a deal on a massive tax package that would reduce the top tax rate for wealthy Americans to 37 percent and slash the corporate rate to a level slightly higher than what businesses and conservatives wanted. In a flurry of last-minute changes that could profoundly affect the pocketbooks of millions of Americans, House and Senate negotiators agreed to expand a deduction for state and local taxes to allow individuals to deduct income taxes as well as property taxes.

US budget deficit totals $138.5 billion in November

The federal government collected a record amount of tax income for the month of November and also had a record level of spending for the month, producing a budget deficit of $138.5 billion, up slightly from a year ago. The November deficit was 1.4 percent higher than a year ago, reflecting in part higher spending to deal with disaster relief and also higher spending by the Treasury Department on interest payments on the national debt, the Treasury Department reported Tuesday.

Being a Federal Appellate Judge Isn’t Quite as Glamorous as One Might Expect

Steven Calabresi, one of the Federalist Society's co-founders, in advance of the organization's most recent annual convention last month published a paper advocating that the number of authorized federal appellate judges should be increased greatly in order to rapidly counteract the majorities of Democratic appointees currently found on various federal appellate courts. This proposal is absurd and in all likelihood counter-productive for numerous reasons.

Millions could face a tax hike if medical deduction is scrapped

Anne Hammer is one of millions of elderly Americans who could face a substantial tax hike in 2018 depending on the final negotiations over the Republican tax bill. Hammer is 71. Like many seniors, her medical bills are piling up.