Corker defended on tax-bill provision
WASHINGTON — Republicans rallied to GOP Sen. Bob Corker’s defense Monday, rejecting a report that the Tennessee lawmaker stealthily tucked a provision into the massive congressional tax package to benefit himself financially.
Democrats were unrelenting as they howled about the “Corker kickback” and argued the tax benefit for real estate developers boosts the wealthy — Corker among them — at the expense of average Americans.
In a letter Monday, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said that he — not Corker — was the author of the provision and that it was hardly a brand-new creation. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the provision dates to its unveiling Nov. 2 by his House counterpart, Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas.
Hatch said it was “categorically false” that Corker was responsible.
“It takes a great deal of imagination — and likely no small amount of partisanship — to argue that a provision that has been public for over a month,” debated on the House floor and included in a House-passed bill, “is somehow a covert and last-minute addition to the conference report,” Hatch said.
Corker said in a statement late Sunday that “he is not a member of the taxwriting committee and had no involvement in crafting the legislation.” Corker said he requested no specific tax provisions throughout the monthslong debate and had no knowledge of the real estate provision.
A story in the International Business Times, an online publication, said Corker “suddenly switched his vote to yes” after GOP leaders added the provision. The story was co-written by David Sirota, a former Democratic strategist who has worked for former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
House and Senate negotiators finalized the bill last week and included a version of the provision to benefit the real estate industry in the form of pass-through companies, which are businesses in which the profits double as the owners’ personal income.
These types of companies can reduce their taxable income by 20 percent, but the Senate bill had only permitted them to do so if they paid wages to workers. The final bill enables the deduction for owners of certain kinds of property as well.
Corker owns real estate and development companies. The online story also said that many senators benefit from campaign contributions from real estate industry PACs and individuals, including Ohio’s Rob Portman, who took in $900,000 in 2016.
Meanwhile, the tax bill would mean average initial tax cuts for Americans across all income lines, but by 2027, it would boost average levies for everyone earning up to $75,000, which includes most taxpayers, Congress’ nonpartisan tax analyst estimated Monday.
The Joint Committee on Taxation calculated that in 2019, people earning $20,000 to $50,000 would see tax cuts averaging 10 percent or more. Those making $200,000 to $1 million would see reductions averaging slightly less.
But by 2023, people making under $30,000 would see tax increases while those earning more would see their tax cuts get smaller.
In 2027, a year after most individual tax provisions expire, people making up to $75,000 would be paying more on average than under current law.
The tax legislation is expected to win House approval Tuesday. Senate passage is likely by Wednesday.
Vice President Mike Pence on Monday postponed his trip to Egypt and Israel until mid-January, citing the need to preside over the Senate during the tax-bill vote.