Hill OKs spending, tax-relief deal

Visa requirements tightened, oil export ban lifted

WASHINGTON, Dec 18, (Agencies): US lawmakers approved a compromise $1.1 trillion spending package Friday that funds the government through next September, while also tightening the nation’s visa requirements, ending a longstanding oil export ban and reforming the IMF.

The sprawling measure, which also extends several tax exemptions worth more than $600 billion and that critics warn will increase the national debt, easily passed the Senate 65 votes to 33 shortly after clearing the House earlier Friday as the last major acts of Congress before year-end holidays.

It now goes to President Barack Obama, and the White House has signalled he will sign the legislation into law.

Architects of the deal and congressional leaders worked overtime this week cajoling rank-and-file members on both sides into backing the $1.149 trillion, catch-all bill which came in at more than 2,000 pages.

Known as an “omnibus,” the fiscal year 2016 spending bill includes priorities of both parties, and left out some pet projects that made it difficult for some lawmakers to sign on.

But ultimately, “the House came together to ensure our government is open and working for the American people,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said after that chamber’s vote.

The bill increases defense spending, which Republicans said was critical given the level of unrest in the Middle East and the increased specter of terrorism.

“The legislation strengthens our military and protects Americans from terrorist threats, while limiting the overreach of intrusive government bureaucracies like the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency,” Ryan said.

The omnibus lifts the 40-year-old ban on US crude oil exports, for years

not handle international diplomacy. (RTRS)

‘If nominee is Trump’:

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s campaign has looked into whether it is possible to withdraw a pledge to support the a Republican priority, while extending solar and wind energy tax credits that Democrats say will create renewable energy jobs and reduce carbon emissions.

The bill reforms the US visa waiver program in the wake of deadly attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, and intensifies US cyber security efforts.

It does not, however, include a controversial measure temporarily halting the program that allows Syrian and Iraqi refugees to enter the United States.

Senator Rand Paul, a Republican presidential candidate, opposed the “reckless” spending bill, saying it will do “nothing to stop the flow of refugees from terrorist countries” and just “adds debt on top of debt and enables President Obama’s lawlessness.”

The omnibus retained the decadeslong ban on federal funding for research into gun violence, a major point of contention for Democrats. It also failed to provide assistance for debt-crippled Puerto Rico, which left top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi fuming although she ultimately backed the deal.

Angered

And it includes a two-year moratorium on the so-called medical device tax, a provision of Obama’s health care law that angered Republicans and Democrats alike.

The Senate also passed a sweeping package extending tax breaks and credits worth $629 billion aimed at providing greater certainty for businesses and millions of Americans.

The House approved the measure Thursday.

The bill includes 56 extensions, among them nearly two dozen that would be made permanent in part to help families still struggling in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Several Democrats, including party leaders in the House, opposed the bill, eventual nominee if it is Donald Trump, a senior Bush aide said on Thursday, in a sign of the deep enmity between the two.

The development came to light after Bush and Trump engaged in bitter exchanges at the last Republican debate of the year on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. warning it is not paid for and will only deepen US debt.

Their opposition puts them at odds with the White House, which on Wednesday announced its support for the tax bill as well as the spending bill.

Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, hailed it as “the biggest anti-poverty plan Congress has moved forward in decades,” and said it will provide relief for 50 million Americans.

Victory

In related story, the tax package was a major victory for corporate lobbyists and Republicans. It makes permanent dozens of costly corporate tax breaks such as the research and development tax credit that had until now have been temporary.

Middle-class Americans also benefit under the legislation. The bill offers aid to students, low-income parents, teachers and others, attracting support from the White House and House Democrats.

Republicans said the bill largely continues existing tax policy, but ends uncertainty for businesses and families by making permanent many tax breaks that previously had to be continually reviewed and renewed, sometimes for decades.

“With this bill in place, Americans will no longer have to worry each December if Congress will take action to extend certain tax-relief measures,” said Kevin Brady, the Republican chairman of the House tax-writing committee.

Though it falls far short of the comprehensive tax reform that both Republicans and Democrats have sought for years, the package is a rare example of congressional action on a major economic issue. Passage of the deal was helped by the shrinking in recent years of the US budget deficit.

Republicans, who control the House, smoothed the way for the tax

Last week in New Hampshire, Bush insisted he would not need to withdraw his support for the nominee because he did not believe Trump would win the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Behind the scenes, top aides have looked into whether Bush would still bill by making it part of the wider agreement in Congress to prevent the government from running out of funding in the coming days.

The broader legislation also includes a proposal to lift a 40-year-old ban on US crude oil exports, a historic move that nevertheless would have little immediate effect on oil markets.

While approval of the combined tax-and-spending deal would prevent another shutdown, the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the tax provisions would increase US budget deficits by around $680 billion over 10 years.

Some Democrats criticized the tax bill, saying it gives more aid to large corporations and wealthy business owners than to working families.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi lauded some “good ideas” in the measure, but said it would add pressure for future spending cuts on education, Social Security and other safety-net programs for the elderly and poor.

“It is the unpaid-for part of it that is mortgaging our children’s future, that is threatening Social Security, that undermines our ability to reduce the deficit,” Pelosi said in floor debate.

The largest and costliest component of the tax package is the business research and development (R&D) tax credit, which will cost $113 billion over a decade in lost government revenues.

The credit until now has faced periodic review as part of a list of “temporary” tax breaks known as the “extenders” that Congress has routinely renewed for years.

Like the R&D credit, other business tax breaks would be made permanent, including one on business depreciation, with a 10-year cost of $28 billion; one on “active financing” that lets businesses shelter profits overseas, costing $78 billion; and one on business expensing, costing $77 billion. qualify to be on the ballots in all 50 states because some states require a loyalty pledge in order to be on the ballot.

A driving factor behind the move was Trump’s proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, a step that Bush denounced to Trump’s face at the debate.

“We received lots of questions following Donald Trump’s most recent unhinged proposal so our campaign did due diligence looking into the rules surrounding the pledge,” said a senior Bush aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Still, Bush has not moved to declare he would not support Trump if he wins the nomination fight. (RTRS)

Hastert recovering:

Former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert, awaiting sentencing in a hush-money case, has suffered a stroke and was admitted to a hospital the first week of November, his attorney said Thursday in a statement.

Hastert also has been treated for sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of infection, and had two back surgeries while in the hospital, attorney Tom Green’s statement said.

Hastert was accused in May of evading banking regulations as part of a plan to pay hush money to conceal “prior misconduct.” The Associated Press and other media outlets, citing anonymous sources, have reported that Hastert wanted to hide claims that he sexually molested someone decades earlier. (AP)