Sinema’s Defense of the Interest Tax Provision

Senate Democrats were on edge last week when Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) reportedly had to study the entire 755-page Inflation Reduction Act before committing to providing the final necessary vote to pass the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation package. Sinema held out until Democrats removed the bill’s carried interest tax provision and tweaked the 15% minimum corporate tax. 

While fighting for the rights of hedge fund managers once was considered a “Republican” sort of thing, that is easily disproved by how bi-partisan investment professionals are when they contribute to political campaigns. 

According to Open Secrets, Sinema received $2,257,315 in campaign contributions from securities and investment individuals and political action committees, between 2017 and 2022 ($318,000 of that was from PACs, the rest from individual investment managers).

In the end it worked out for the bill, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) dropped the new tax for hedge fund managers from the bill, costing $580 million, according to The Hill, and replaced it with a new tax on corporate buybacks to bring in an additional $1.3 billion. 

--TL

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Hope for Democrats This November? ...

Last week, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) predicted the November midterm elections could go either way for the Senate, with his fellow Republicans taking a slight majority, or Democrats taking a slight majority. No one is predicting either party will win a filibuster-proof edge. 

Will the Senate’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act help stem the traditional midterm sweep by the president’s opposing party? What do you think of the bill’s provisions?

Enter your opinion in the Comment box in this or the right column, or email editors@thehustings.news (subject to editing for length and clarity, but not civilly stated content). 

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Senate Passes Inflation Reduction Act, 51-50

The Senate has passed the $739-billion Inflation Reduction Act 51-50, along party lines with Vice President Harris providing the tiebreaker, The Hill reports. The corporate tax/climate change/healthcare legislation survived a Vote-o-Rama that included an amendment by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) that extended a SALT cap (state and local deductions) that is part of the 2017 Trump tax cut bill. 

Ruled by the Senate parliamentarian as eligible for budget reconciliation, Democrats were able to pass it without fear of a Republican filibuster.

Thune’s amendment, which passed with the support of seven Democrats including Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema, was considered a threat to the bill because the deduction ceiling hurts many households in blue states and districts, according to The Hill’s report. But a subsequent amendment replaced the SALT cap extension with another revenue stream. Several Democrats offered hugs to Sinema as the vote on the final passage happened, the report says. 

Sinema’s support had been Democrats’ biggest concern after compromise on the bill, a heavily reduced version of President Biden’s $3-trillion-plus Build Back Better proposal, that was negotiated between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sinema ally Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

What Does This Mean for the Midterms?

Will Republican candidates have any success in using the $739-billion Inflation Reduction Act as an argument against Democrats in the November midterm elections? 

What do you think of the bill’s provisions? 

Enter your opinion in the Comment box in this or the left column, or email editors@thehustings.news (subject to editing for length and clarity, but not civilly stated content). 

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…meanwhile…

(CHART: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

(FRI 8/5/22)

528,000 more jobs in July…That’s about twice the number economists had predicted for last month, NPR reports. The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics says the unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 points, to 3.5% and marks the return of the unemployment rate and nonfarm employment numbers to pre-pandemic, February 2020 levels. Widespread employment gains came in leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services, and health care, BLS reports. 

•••

China censures Pelosi … The Chinese government has censured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her direct family members, over her visit to Taiwan as part of a five-nation diplomatic trip to Asia this week, NPR reports. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has repeatedly noted Pelosi and her delegation have a right to visit the breakaway island nation and accused Beijing of overreacting, and Pelosi told a Tokyo press conference, “They will not isolate Taiwan by preventing us from traveling there.”

•••

Sinema signs on … The Senate will begin procedural votes today on the $739-billion Schumer-Manchin Inflation Reduction Act, with a Vote-o-Rama of unlimited amendments expected by the middle of next week. Sen. Krysten Sinema’s (D-AZ) crucial vote on the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation (subject to Senate parliamentarian approval) was secured late Thursday when Democratic leaders agreed to tweak the 15% minimum corporate tax by removing accelerated depreciation, according to Politico, and swap out killing the carried interest tax provision in favor of taxing large corporate buybacks, according to our fellow news aggregates at The Recount. 

Upshot: Sitting in the Catbird seat since Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) signed on with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) last week, Sinema could have made these negotiations much worse for her fellow Senate Democrats. But we find the specificity of her demands, particularly restoration of the carried interest tax provision for wealthy hedge fund managers, curious at the very least.

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Lake Wins Arizona Primary

The Associated Press has called the Republican primary for Arizona governor for Kari Lake, the Donald J. Trump-backed candidate, over the Mike Pence-backed candidate, Karrin Taylor Robson. Lake will face Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in the November midterms.

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Send us your thoughts on the $739-billion Schumer-Manchin Inflation Reduction Act. Go to the Comments box in this column (or the box on the left, if that’s how you lean) or email editors@thehustings.news.

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AG Garland on the Kansas Abortion Law Amendment

Once again, the pollsters had it wrong, as did the strategists. Kansas voters last Tuesday in a referendum rejected an amendment that would have removed the right to abortion from the state’s Constitution, by a decisive 61% to 39%. It seems we witnessed an outbreak of democracy. Let's hope it's a new trend. 

Both sides of the aisle have got it wrong by relying on the courts. The Constitution above all supports voters to determine how they will be governed -- We the People. The First Amendment is also apparently in play here.

Click on The Gray Area for U.S. Attorney Gen. Merrick Garland’s remarks Wednesday to the Reproductive Rights Task Force.

--Ken Zino

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Left's Turn?

Time to rethink the One China policy? Enter your comments in this column or the right column, or email editors@thehustings.news.

Scroll down this page to read about last Tuesday’s primary races, including the stunning vote to reject a change in Kansas’ Constitution that could have led to stricter abortion laws. 

Scroll further to read about Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal, New York Post and Fox News stepping away from Donald J. Trump. 

Coverage, analysis and commentary on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection are on Pages 2-6. 

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Pelosi Doctrine v. One China

(THU 8/4/22)

After Pelosi’s departure from Taiwan … Five Chinese ballistic missiles that were fired into the seas near Taiwan landed within the Japan’s exclusive economic zone, NPR reports Thursday. China conducted “military exercises” in the waters surrounding Taiwan after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) departed Wednesday from her visit in which she said her delegation was in Taipei to make it “unequivocally clear” the U.S. would not “abandon” Taiwan, the BBC reports. Pelosi met with Taiwan's female president, Tsai Ing-wen.

Meanwhile: “As the outside world debated war risks, Taiwanese tourists flocked to glimpse China’s most provocative military drills in decades,” according to Bloomberg Politics, citing local media reports that ferries to Little Liuqiu Island, less than 6.2 miles from the nearest point to the mainland where the ballistic missiles were expected, were busy.

White House message: While the State Department’s official response to Pelosi’s visit prior to her arrival was that our third-ranking elected official has the right to visit Taiwan, the White House assessed it “not a good idea,” according to the BBC. 

One China policy: There seems almost a casual attitude toward U.S. adherence to Beijing’s intense interest in taking back the nation of 23 million people that broke off after Mao Zedong’s communists captured the Mainland in 1949. But Taipei also has had to watch what the People’s Republic of China has done to self-determination in Hong Kong in recent years despite the agreement that Beijing had with Great Britain to retake that special region in 1999.

Upshot: Democratic and Republican administrations over the decades have quietly and vaguely agreed to the One China Policy despite Taiwan’s democratic values and vibrant free market economy, though Pelosi, who first unfurled a pro-democracy banner in Tiananmen Square, as a young Congress member two years after the PRC’s 1989 massacre there. As has been widely noted, Pelosi’s Taiwan visit this week is the first by a House speaker only since Newt Gingrich in 1997. 

In those 25 years, China’s military has grown much larger and stronger. Only very recently, the U.S. has begun to make moves (see the CHIP Act) to try and reduce our economic dependency on China. Could that lead to closer consideration of the Pelosi doctrine, to never abandon Taiwan?

•••

Car crash kills Rep. Walorski… Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) died in a head-on collision when a vehicle crossed the median into the path of the congresswoman’s SUV in Northern Indiana. The six-term congresswoman’s aides, Zachery Potts, 27, and Emma Thomson, 28, as well as the driver of the other vehicle were also killed (The Hill). 

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENT: editors@thehustings.news

Lake v. Taylor Robson

Tuesday’s GOP primary race for governor of Arizona is not over, despite Trump-endorsed candidate Kari Lake’s claims to have won, NBC News reports. Early Thursday, Lake led Mike Pence-endorsed candidate Karrin Taylor Robson, though within a two-point margin.

Lake told reporters she had evidence of voter fraud that were delaying her definitive win, which has not been officially called. 

Comment on the Arizona primaries or any other political issues we’ve covered via the box in this column, or the one on the left, or email editors@thehustings.news.

Scroll further to read about Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal, New York Post and Fox News stepping away from Donald J. Trump. 

Coverage, analysis and commentary on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection are on Pages 2-6. 

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Pro-Choice Backlash

Do the results of the Kansas vote to retain the state’s constitutional right to an abortion portend a pro-choice backlash against the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health in this November’s midterm elections? Enter your civilly expressed opinion in the Comments box at the bottom of this column, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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Primary Returns

(WED 8/3/22)

Arizona ... A deeper shade of red leads the GOP primary for governor, where Donald J. Trump's pick, Kari Lake beat former Vice President Mike Pence's choice, Karrin Taylor Robson, whose campaign website platform leads off with "Finish The Wall." Lake has 46.2% to Robson's 44.4% as of Wednesday morning, with six more candidates, including three write-ins, all in single-digits. (Per The New York Times and Ballotpedia.) Lake will face Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs in November. In the GOP primary to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, Trump-endorsed Blake "Make America Safe Again" Masters took 35% of the vote, to Jim Larson's 30.4% and Mark Brnovich's 20%, plus four other candidates each under 10%.

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Kansas, Missouri, Michigan … In the first such post-Roe v. Wade challenge, Kansas voters rejected an amendment that would remove the right to abortion from the state’s Constitution, by a resounding 61% to 39%, The New York Times reports. Voter turnout for the state’s primaries hit a new record, according to MSNBC. …

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt beat second-place finisher Vicky Hartzler and former Gov. Eric “RINO Hunter” Greitens in the state’s GOP primary to replace retiring Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, Associated Press reports. By 10:30 p.m. Central time Schmitt had 41.5% to Hartzler’s 24.6% and Greitens’ 20.8%. One thing you can count on is that Schmitt will have turned out to be the Eric that Trump endorsed. …

Freshman Rep. Peter Meijer, one of 10 Republicans who voted for Donald J. Trump’s second impeachment, was leading and expected to win the GOP primary for Michigan’s 3rd House District, edging Trump-endorsed candidate John Gibbs, 50.6% to 49.4%, according to MSNBC. …. 

UPDATE: Trumpian Gibbs edged out Meijer for the win in the close Michigan race.

Also in Michigan, District 11 Rep. Haley Stevens beat District 9 Rep. Andy Levin, 60% to 40% for the Democratic primary for the 11th District, per Ballotpedia. The two were forced to face each other due to redistricting. …

And in the GOP primary for Michigan’s governor, conservative commentator, businesswoman and Trump endorsee Tudor Dixon easily beat Ryan Kelley, who pleaded not guilty to misdemeanors in the January 6 Capitol riot, and three other Republican candidates. Dixon will face popular and controversial Democratic incumbent Gretchen Witmer in November. 

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Manchin Vindicated?

Where does Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) go for an apology? Anti-MAGA conservative columnist Tim Allen asks in The Bulwark<https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/joe-manchin-was-right-about-pretty> following the senator’s deal with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to introduce the Inflation Reduction Act tackling climate change, health care and pharmaceuticals and closing tax loopholes to pay for it all. 

But Republicans senators are much-less convinced, making it clear it will need a nod from the Senate parliamentarian to run the bill through budget reconciliation in order for it to pass without threat of a filibuster. 

Manchin was “taken to the cleaners” on Inflation Reduction, according to Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who has taken the heat for torpedoing the $400 billion veterans’ burn pit bill. 

Comment in the box below in this column below or email editors@thehustings.news.

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…meanwhile…

(TUE 8/2/22)

Pelosi in Taiwan? … As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) heads to Taipei Tuesday after visiting Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, China continues to warn against the diplomatic visit, with video of military airplanes and missiles flying to the sound of menacing music. The White House says it won’t respond to China's “saber rattling” The New York Times reports, but in Taiwan, the speaker has become something of a heroine, with one popular meme reimagining her as a powerful Taoist goddess.

American politicians have traveled for years to the country President Xi Jingping considers China’s own Ukraine. But Speaker Pelosi would mark the highest-level visit by an American official in 25 years, NYT says. 

Timing: While the CHIPS Act passed last week won’t cause local computer chip manufacturing to pop up overnight, it does send a message to China (as well as Taiwan) that the U.S. won’t be so dependent on its industry dominance anymore. This might be why the White House sees this as a good time to send China a message that the West won’t tolerate a Russia-Ukraine-like aggression against Taiwan.

•••

U.S. attack kills al-Zawahri… A drone strike precise enough to save his family nearby took out one of the world’s most-wanted terrorists, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri, from the balcony of his Kabul, Afghanistan residence. A-Zawahri, 71, was “deeply involved” as the right-hand man to Osama bin Laden for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks NPR’s Morning Edition says. President Biden announced the successful attack Monday evening, described as delivering justice and, he hoped, “one more measure of closure” to families of the 9/11 victims (AP). 

Al-Zawahri and his family recently moved to the large, upscale home in the center of Kabul, a neighborhood favored by Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders, Morning Edition says.

Biden approved the drone attack last week and it was carried out Sunday by U.S “intelligence forces,” meaning, likely, CIA, NSA, or some combo of the two. The attack, taking place 11 months after Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan comes as his fortunes are on the rise after passage of the CHIPS Act and the introduction of the Manchin-backed Inflation Reduction Act. 

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Are All Your Pets Called Eric?

Primaries Tuesday are held in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Washington, Ballotpedia says. Like the primary season so far, most eyes are on the GOP races, including Arizona's gubernatorial and U.S. Senate race, the Republican candidate who will take on Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Witmer, and Missouri's race for a U.S. Senate seat, which is the talk of the Beltway since ex-prez Donald J. Trump announced his endorsement.

“I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds … I am therefore proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” he announced in a statement (per The Guardian).

So … that would be Eric Greitens, the “scandal-plagued former Missouri governor most recently known for his “hunting RINOs” campaign TV ad. 

Or Eric Schmitt, the state’s attorney general. 

Or long-shot Eric McElroy, whom former Missouri Democratic (yes, that once happened) Sen. Claire McCaskill has “congratulated.”

Watch this space for results Wednesday. Voice your opinion in the Comments box or email editors@thehustings.news.

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