The Spencer Hamilton Blog

Tax Reform Bill may have to be rewritten So, we remember when the tax scam was passed hastily? It’s infamous for the handwritten changes they made hours before it was to be passed, and it got rid of the State and Local Taxes Deduction—SALT—which disproportionately hurt higher tax/blue states. It also got rid of the deduction for teachers and supplies. It also has something about S corporations that allow a rich person to save more money, something called a pass through. So after the Kochs invested in Paul Ryan to the tune of a half million dollars (make note: Most of it was to a PAC for Republicans), we are seeing headlines that the bill may need to be rewritten. The fiscal times reports on two specific areas that will have to be fixed in the legislation The ‘Grain Glitch’: The legislation allows farmers to deduct 20 percent of their total sales to  cooperatives . “This allows farmers to deeply reduce their tax bills, but it has caused an uproar among independent...

Pennsylvania Gerrymandering, Progressive Pushback in St Louis & Baltimore Cop Corruption Trial (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/pennsylvania-supreme-court-issues-congressional-map-in-gerrymandering-case.html) Gerrymandering is the drawing of district lines usually by a Legislature to advantage Democrats or Republicans depending on the party that hold the majority. The Supreme Court has taken a case from Wisconsin about Gerrymandering for Party advantage and we are still waiting to hear from that case However, Pennsylvania has been in the news recently and their Congressional map looked like this: A lawsuit to make the districts fairer resulted in a map that was drawn by their State Supreme Court. Instead of a 13-5 Republican advantage, based on the 2016 election data, the districts are down to 10-8 with more competitive districts. Not only that but the districts actually make sense and you can “follow the numbers” The previous map had Districts 1 and 2 on the...

If I don’t pay a bill, I lose the service, if I don’t do my job no amount of redistricting saves my job, I get fired. My Mom told me be careful what you wish for because you just might get it and sometimes I got it and never in the way I wanted. This is the same thing that the GOP is facing. They got what they wanted…or not…they wanted Obama out and obstructed American progress to do it and America came out in droves to defeat their plans and without gerrymandered districts from the Red Sweep of 2010 Democrats would’ve taken the House like we did in ‘06. I find it amazing that the GOP tells us: the poor, those of us who work hard to take responsibility for our lives but refuse to learn from this loss in 2012. Also, I don’t see them telling businesses that they are responsible for the huge deficit by paying no money in taxes but getting millions of dollars back from the big government they swear is the problem until it is the solution. IF the GOP wants to be competitive th...