Trump Vetoes Congress on Border Emergency

Plus, the Pentagon's missing $2B in F-35 equipment By Yuval Rosenberg and Michael Rainey Trump Vetoes Congressional Rejection of His Border Emergency President Trump on Friday issued the first veto of his presidency, striking down a resolution passed by Congress opposing his declaration of a national emergency to secure additional funds for his promised wall on the southern border. “Today I am vetoing this resolution. Congress has the freedom to pass this resolution and I have the duty to veto it,” Trump said in the Oval Office. The resolution was passed by the House late last month and 12 Republicans joined Democrats in passing it through the Senate on Thursday. Trump’s veto sends the legislation back to Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scheduled a vote for March 26, after lawmakers returns from their recess next week, to try to override Trump’s veto. “House Republicans will have to choose between their partisan hypocrisy and their sacred oath to support and defend the Constitution,” she said according to [The Washington Post](. But Congress is not expected to have the two-thirds majority required to terminate the president’s declaration. Just 21% of Americans Say They See Savings from Trump Tax Law Only one in five adults expects to pay less income taxes this year as a result of the Republican tax law passed in 2017, according to a new [Reuters/Ipsos poll]( released Friday. Just 21 percent of adults polled said they expect their tax bill to fall this year compared to 29 percent who said they would pay more. Another 27 percent said the law wouldn’t impact their tax hit while 24 percent said they were unsure of its effects. Among Republicans, about 33 percent said they would pay less tax while 17 percent said they would pay more. Only 8 percent of Democrats said they would pay less, while about 45 percent said they would pay more. The numbers illustrate the difficulty Republicans have encountered in trying to sell Americans on their tax overhaul — a challenge that could continue into the 2020 campaign. The Trump administration Treasury Department and experts at the Tax Policy Center have said that about [80 percent]( of tax filers will see a cut for 2018. The Reuters/Ipsos poll contacted 1,755 American adults, including 1,439 who said they either “already filed” or “will file” an income tax return. The poll was conducted from March 6 to March 11 and has a margin of error of about 5 percentage points. Trump Budget Would Produce $1 Trillion Deficits for Years to Come: CRFB President Trump’s 2020 budget request released earlier this week projected a reduction in the national debt over a decade and a balanced budget in 15 years. But as many critics have pointed out (see [here]( [here]( and [here]( the budget’s assumptions about economic growth, spending cuts and federal revenue levels are unrealistic at best. What does the president’s budget look like with more realistic assumptions? Using its own rough estimate of how the Congressional Budget Office would score the Trump plan, the deficit hawks at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget [ran the numbers]( and found that, if enacted, the presidential blueprint would likely increase the debt to 88 percent of GDP by 2029. By comparison, the White House projected a decrease to 71 percent of GDP over the same time period. Annual budget deficits would also rise, CRFB said, coming in at about $1 trillion a year through 2029. By comparison, the White House projects the deficit would fall to $202 billion in 2029 before disappearing completely five years later. Most of the difference in the estimates was produced by using CBO numbers for just two variables, GDP growth and federal revenues, CRFB said. (The Trump budget included some optimistic projections for tax revenue, contrary to the early indications of the effects of the tax cuts passed in 2017.) If spending cuts that CBO assumes will occur in the future do not in fact occur, the debt and deficit numbers grow even larger, with the debt-to-GDP ratio rising to 92 percent in a decade. Charts of the Week: Taxes and Deficits This chart from Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, colorfully illustrates who’s paying taxes, and how the percentage share of each income group has shifted over time. Another chart from Slok’s March chartbook shows how public concern over the budget deficit and rising debt-to-GDP level has fallen dramatically over the last five years or so, even as the United States approaches a $1 trillion deficit and the debt [continues to grow](. Pentagon Lost Track of $2 Billion Worth of F-35 Equipment Department of Defense officials haven’t kept track of more than $2 billion worth of government-owned equipment involved in producing the F-35 stealth jet, according to a [report]( released this week by the Pentagon’s inspector general. Lead contractor Lockheed Martin manages roughly 3.45 million pieces of government property as part of the F-35 program, the watchdog said, including special tooling, molds and test rigging. But defense officials have “failed to implement procedures, and failed to appoint and hold officials responsible, to account for and manage government property for more than 16 years.” As a result, “the DoD does not know the actual value of the F‑35 property and does not have an independent record to verify the contractor‑valued government property of $2.1 billion for the F‑35 Program.” Without proper records, the joint program office overseeing development and production of the F-35 cannot evaluate Lockheed’s use of government property and cannot hold the contractor accountable, the report said. The Pentagon cannot verify, for example, Lockheed’s claim that it has lost $271 million worth of government property. The inspector general recommended that the F-35 program office begin to follow required accounting procedures before Lockheed commences full-rate production. A New Tool for Comparing ‘Medicare for All’ Plans The Commonwealth Fund, a non-partisan health care foundation, introduced an interactive tool this week that allows users to compare congressional health care reform bills, including various Medicare for All proposals. “Replacing most private insurance with a Medicare-like system for everyone has instilled both hope and fear across the country depending on people’s perspective or financial stake in the current health care system. But a closer look at recent congressional bills introduced by Democrats reveals a set of far more nuanced approaches to improving the nation’s health care system than the term Medicare for All suggests,” the group’s Sara R. Collins, vice president for health care coverage and access, [writes](. To find out more about those nuances and the range of private and public options that have been proposed, visit the [interactive tool]( and click on the dots below each plan. Your Prize for Making It Through the Week The world doesn't need any more madness — but it could sure use some March Madness right now. No. 5 Duke and No 3. North Carolina play tonight in a contest that could determine who ends up with one of the NCAA tournament’s four top seeds. And Duke’s Zion Williamson [is back](. Selection Sunday is coming up quickly. News - [Disaster Aid Vote Is Expected after Recess, but What’s in It Is Still in the Works]( – Roll Call - [Tax Refunds Are $4 Larger on Average Versus Last Year After Sixth Week of Filing Season]( – USA Today - [10-Year Treasury Yield Hits 2019 Lows as US Rates Near Back-to-Back Weekly Declines]( – CNBC - [Klobuchar: Obamacare a 'Missed Opportunity' to Address Drug Costs]( – The Hill - [Democrats Support Expanding Medicare, with Some Caveats That Could Matter to Voters]( – Reuters - [The Legal Fight Over the Trump Administration’s Most Aggressive Play to Cut Medicaid, Explained]( – Vox - [GOP Pollster Says It's 'Ridiculous' to Say Republicans Want to Get Rid of Welfare]( – The Hill - [Medicaid Work Requirements Could Cost Hospitals $3.7 Billion]( – HealthLeaders - [Home Health Saves Medicare Money Despite Higher Readmissions]( – Modern Healthcare - [Skipping School Around the World to Push for Action on Climate Change]( – NPR - [The Pentagon’s 2020 Budget Asks for Nearly 380 Aircraft, but One Buy Is Raising Eyebrows]( – Popular Mechanics - [US Air Force Says Boeing Has 'Severe Situation' After Trash Found on Refueling Planes]( – CNN - [House Dems Renew Push for Government Contractor Back Pay]( – The Hill - [The IRS Has $1.4 Billion in Old Tax Refunds That Americans ‘May Have Overlooked’]( – CNBC - [NYC Brokers Say Pied-a-Terre Tax Is ‘Class Warfare’ on the Rich]( – Bloomberg - [Some Truckers Got Run Over by The Republicans’ Tax Law]( – HuffPost Views and Analysis - [Trump Just Vetoed Congress’s Disapproval of His National Emergency. That Doesn’t Mean He’ll Get the Money.]( – Aaron Blake, Washington Post - [Senate Republicans’ Declaration of (Semi-) Independence]( – New York Times Editorial Board - [Congress Has a Breaking Point. This Week, Trump Might Have Found It]( – Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Michael D. Shear, New York Times - [On National Emergency Vote, 41 Republican Senators Pledge Loyalty to Royalty]( – USA Today Editorial Board - [The Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex Is Holding Our National Security Back]( – David Ignatius, Washington Post - [Democrats Engage in ‘Mediscare’ Spin on the Trump Budget]( – Glenn Kessler, Washington Post - [The Silence of the Democratic Lambs]( – Bill Scher, Politico - [Labor Opposition to Green New Deal Could Be a Big Obstacle]( – Sara Sorcher, Washington Post - [How the Not-for-Profit Civica Rx Will Disrupt the Generic Drug Industry]( – Marc Harrison, STAT - [Most Medicare Beneficiaries Lack Dental Coverage, and Many Go Without Needed Care]( – Kaiser Family Foundation - [State Revenues Grew in Third Quarter, but Income Taxes Face Uncertain Prospects]( – Lucy Dadayan, Tax Policy Center - [The Era of Cheap Money Shows No One Knows How Monetary Policy Works]( – Ben Holland, Bloomberg - [Why the U.S. Trade Deficit Keeps Growing]( – Bill Dudley, Bloomberg - [American Colonists Had a Modern Monetary Theory of Their Own]( – Stephen Mihm, Bloomberg - [The Human Cost of Insulin in America]( – Ritu Prasad, BBC Copyright © 2019 The Fiscal Times, All rights reserved. You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed at our website, thefiscaltimes.com, or through Facebook. Our mailing address is: The Fiscal Times 399 Park AvenueNew York, NY 10022 [Add us to your address book]( If someone has forwarded this email to you, consider signing up for The Fiscal Times emails on our [website](. Want to change how you receive these emails? [Update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe](.