Gop

An influential Republican donor who spent much of last year arguing for a sea wall in Charleston hasn't stopped there. Jay Faison, a Charlotte entrepreneur, has continued to play a hands-on role in trying to fix flooding in Charleston, even though many people working on that issue say they hadn't seen him since last year.An advocacy group he founded is paying for almost half of the city's signature flooding study known as the Dutch Dialogues, and emails show Faison communicated directly with study leaders about that funding. He's part of a statewide commission on flooding, as well.Some think Faison is trying to reclaim the issue of climate change, and its impacts, such as flooding, for the GOP. Faison is a lifelong member of the Republican Party and has donated both personally and through political action groups to support vulnerable Republicans who also back clean energy initiatives. Faison said he's "been painted by the left as a guy who cares about Republicans and not … [Read more...] about Charleston’s biggest Dutch Dialogues funder is a GOP climate advocate

The competition to lead the Pennsylvania Republican Party just 16 months before the 2020 presidential election is over. A day before the GOP was to meet in Hershey to elect a new chair of the party, the two officials seeking the position – Acting Chair Bernadette "Bernie" Comfort and Lawrence Tabas – announced a brokered deal that will avoid an intra-party showdown. In an effort to unite the party ahead of Donald Trump's re-election bid – with Pennsylvania again considered a key battleground state – the deal sets up Comfort as state chair of the Trump 2020 Campaign and Tabas as chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party. Comfort will continue as party vice chair. Tabas is a former longtime general counsel to the state party.Comfort has faced mounting accusations from party activists in recent days about sexual harassment of women by state party officials. Specifically, she is accused of "knowing about and ignoring complaints of sexual harassment by state party … [Read more...] about Pennsylvania GOP avoids showdown over party leadership

President Trump has hailed the GOP tax plan as a "giant tax cut" for the middle class. While many people will pay less tax in the next few years, just how much less will vary greatly. Plus, some individuals will end up paying even more. How do you know where you'll fall? Just like under today's code, many factors will determine what your tax burden will be. Your marital status, how many kids you have, how you make a living, where you live, which tax breaks you ordinarily take, plus other elements will affect the changes you'd see in your tax bill if the GOP plan becomes law. The Tax Institute at H&R Block ran a number of scenarios for filers in different situations to give a more specific gauge of where you might stand in 2018 if you're a wage earner. In the next several years, plenty of filers are likely to see a tax cut of some kind, although not everyone will be quite so lucky. But the story will change as the decade rolls on because individual tax cuts would … [Read more...] about How much you’d pay under GOP tax plan depends on many factors

President Trump said H&R Block would go out of business because his tax overhaul would be so simple. But the plan Republicans and Trump came up with almost certainly won't put tax preparers out of business. The final tax bill, released on Friday, does indeed deliver some simplification, but not as much as promised. And it adds plenty of complications, particularly for small businesses. Republicans have said that under their tax plan your tax return could be filed on a postcard. That seems unlikely. But even if the IRS shrinks the 1040 you'd still need to check a bundle of instructions to fill it out. The plan does get points for simplification, experts say, by nearly doubling the standard deduction to $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for joint filers. Doing that would drastically reduce the number of taxpayers who itemize since the only reason to do so is if all your deductions exceed the standard deduction. To itemize, you have to keep lots of records to track … [Read more...] about New tax code will still be complicated despite GOP promise to simplify

Flake, a longtime Trump critic who has before argued that the Republican Party should not support the President in 2020, made his case in an op-ed published in The Washington Post titled "Fellow Republicans, there's still time to save your souls," writing that Senate Republicans should refuse to support a second term for the President , despite their feelings on the Democrat-controlled House's impeachment inquiry . "My fellow Republicans, it is time to risk your careers in favor of your principles. Whether you believe the president deserves impeachment, you know he does not deserve reelection," wrote Flake, who represented Arizona before he left Congress earlier this year. "Our country will have more presidents. But principles, well, we get just one crack at those. For those who want to put America first, it is critically important at this moment in the life of our country that we all, here and now, do just that." "Trust me when I say that you can go elsewhere for a job. But … [Read more...] about Jeff Flake tells GOP not to support Trump in 2020: It’s ‘time to risk your careers in favor of your principles’