The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Brady cherry-picks statistic on GOP tax bill’s benefit
As crunch time in Congress approaches, Republicans are aggressively making the case that their tax bills will allow a broad swath of Americans to benefit.
When we took a closer look at one claim by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, we found his statistic somewhat misleading.
Brady’s office pointed us to an analysis of the House bill by the Joint Committee on Taxation, the nonpartisan office of Congress charged with analyzing the impacts of tax bills.
The committee released breakdowns of how much various income ranges would see their taxes collectively increase or decrease over the next decade. Because one of the divisions between income groups is at $200,000, it’s straightforward to break down what share of the benefits accrue above and below that income level.
part of DeKalb County that includes Emory University.
Norwood said she “unequivocally” supports the school district’s inclusion in city annexations.
“Our school system does not thrive unless everyone is a part of it,” she said, and later added: “I just don’t think we can have two different classifications of people in the city.”
But Bottoms said each annexation needs to be reviewed separately. She said a top issue for some communities is wanting to be a part of the city but not Atlanta schools.
“While APS is making tremendous strides, and I applaud those strides, we are not there in each and every community,” she said.
The two mayoral candidates also took different approaches to how they would seek to repair the strained relationship between APS and current city leadership. Both reaffirmed they would resolve an ongoing sticking point between the city and school system by turning over deeds to school properties.
Bottoms repeated her intent to appoint an education director, a move that drew criticism from Carstarphen.
“We think it’s another layer of bureaucracy,” the superintendent said. “Some have even said ... it’s code for mayoral takeover or mayoral control.”
Bottoms said the director would focus on all levels of education, including early childhood and vocational training.
“I think that any elected officials will tell you that school takeover is considered political suicide,” Bottoms said. “What I am interested in is making sure that we have a highly functioning relationship with APS.”
Norwood said she wants a city liaison to help with communication with the school district, and said she wouldn’t create an education position inside city leadership.
“I would be looking to the board and the superintendent for that leadership,” she said.
Other city-related priorities for APS include building sidewalks in school zones, tearing down or repurposing abandoned buildings near schools, developing paid internships for high school students, and ensuring “closer collaboration” between the city and APS police forces.
The candidate event at The Gathering Spot was promoted as the first such mayoral discussion focused solely on education. It was co-hosted by the nonprofit Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students.
The runoff election is Tuesday.