Trump tax bill clears Senate hurdle as Bush and Obama make veiled swipes
US President Donald Trump’s proposed tax reforms cleared a significant hurdle on Thursday as the Senate passed a blueprint budget for 2018, as the divisiveness under his administration faced thinly-veiled attacks from predecessors Barack Obama and George W Bush.
The Republican-controlled Senate approved the budget plans narrowly on a 51-49 vote, but the bill is expected to face strong opposition in the long run from Democrats.
Trump’s major tax reforms include a significant cut in corporation tax and taxes paid by individuals, which the President says will amount to $6trn in cuts.
“Great news on the 2018 budget @SenateMajLdr McConnell - first step toward delivering MASSIVE tax cuts for the American people!,” Trump tweeted on Friday.
Great news on the 2018 budget @SenateMajLdr McConnell - first step toward delivering MASSIVE tax cuts for the American people! #TaxReform pic.twitter.com/aBzQR7KR0c
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2017
The passing of the budget resolution was likely to help stock market sentiment, said analyst Craig Erlam at Oanda.
"As Steve Mnuchin made clear this week, a portion of the rally in equity markets since Trump’s election victory in November was driven by the expectation that tax reform will happen and provide a significant boost to the economy and companies.
"A failure to deliver on this would be a huge blow to Trump and could be damaging for markets as well, although this now looks increasingly less likely."
OLD BOYS STRIKE BACK
Meanwhile, Bush and Obama dished out a thinly-veiled attack on the policies of the current US President, breaking with the traditional behaviour of former White House residents.
Former reality television star Trump has previously been critical of both of his predecessors.
Trump’s major tax reforms include a significant cut in corporation tax and taxes paid by individuals
Neither Bush or Obama mentioned Trump by name, but both criticised trademark policies from the Republican, such as trade protectionism and divisive politics.
During a speech in New York, Bush lambasted the current state of play in Washington.
“Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication,” Bush said.
"At times it can seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism, forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America."
In similar remarks at two different events, Obama also bemoaned the divisiveness which has become a central theme in American politics in recent months.
"Some of the politics we see now, we thought we had put that to bed," Obama said. "That's folks looking 50 years back. It's the 21st Century, not the 19th Century."
"We've got folks who are deliberately trying to make folks angry -- to demonize people who have different ideas; to get the base all riled up because it provides a short-term tactical advantage.”