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Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Trump's State of the Union Speech Summary

Summary of SOTU Speech

Trump begins by reflecting on his speech a year ago, and how he took swift action on the promises he made, with clear vision and a righteous mission to make America great again for all Americans.
The past year brought many trials, from floods, fires, and terrible storms, Americans came through with their beautiful soul and a steel spine.
The President then recounted several tales of heroism from Hurricanes Irma and Harvey and states that We will always pull through together, always.
He then thanked the Capitol Police for their swift action at the Congressional baseball game shooting and called out Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise, who got a standing ovation.
President Trump called on everyone to set aside their differences and work together for the good of the people who elected them into office.  Nancy Pelosi visibly grimaced.
Trump referred to the American people as fearless, daring, and determined, and people who tame challenges.
He proclaims that the State of the Union is strong because the People are strong.
Trump rattles off a list of statistics:
  • 2.4 Million New Jobs
  • 200K of those jobs in manufacturing
  • Rising wages in first real wage growth in many years
  • Unemployment at 45-year low
  • African American Unemployment lowest ever recorded
  • Hispanic American Unemployment also lowest level ever.
  • Small Business confidence highest in a decade.
  • 8 Trillion in value added to the stock market during his tenure.
  • 401K and retirement accounts through the roof.
  • Biggest Tax Cuts in US History Just as he promised
               —— Standing Ovation ——
The first 24k of a couple’s earnings are tax free.
For those making 72K a year, their tax bill is cut in half.
Everyone will see more money in their take-home pay starting next month.
He got Congress to eliminate the individual mandate, by repealing the core of Obamacare
Business Tax rates were slashed from 35% to 21% making America competitive again.
Average family incomes have risen 4k.
Over three million Americans received tax cut bonuses, many in the thousands of dollars.
Apple Computer will invest 350 billion dollars and create 20,000 more jobs in the USA
Exxon Mobile just pledged an additional 50 billion dollars investment in the USA too.
The best time to live the American Dream is now.
Dream anything, be anything, achieve anything.
Our future relies on us all getting together to be on one team to be one people.
We have the same home, same heart, same destiny, and the same great American flag.
Faith and Family is the center of the nation.
In God We Trust.
Police, military, and veterans deserve our unwavering support.
The President then tells the story of Preston, a pre-teen who places flags on the graves of veterans.  Trump then said Preston embodies the respect for why we salute the flag and stand for the National Anthem.
Americans love their country.
Trump says he seeks to restore respect for rule of law, by bringing in judges who believe in the US Constitution into the Supreme Court and Circuit courts too.
The President voiced his support for the 2nd Amendment and Religious Liberty
He then highlighted Veterans Choice in healthcare, and the VA Accountability Act, which has led to the removal of over 1,500 VA employees and replacing them with new employees who actually love veterans.
He promises to take care of the Veterans.
President Trump says Americans deserve accountability and respect and called on Congress to empower cabinet members to remove employees who violate the trust or fail the American People.
Trump reminds us that his administration has removed more regulations than any other administration in history
Trump has eliminated the war on energy and especially the war on coal.
The United States is again a net exporter of energy.
Trump vows to restore Detroit, to get its motors revving again, and as a start, a new Chrysler plant is being built in Michigan.
There are also Toyota and Mazda plants being built in Alabama.
Jobs are moving back to America.  Companies want to come to America, because that’s where the action is.  The action is in the United States of America.
The FDA has approved more drugs and devices in the last year than ever before.
Trump calls on Congress to give Americans suffering from terminal illness the ‘Right to Try’ new therapies without needing to travel around the world seeking them out.
The President also promised to reign in prescription drug prices, which were plainly unfair when compared to other countries around the globe.  It will be one of his top priorities for the coming year to fix overpriced drugs, and that the prices will come down. Watch!
President Trump also vowed to continue to stop unfair trade deals.  The era of Economic Surrender is over.  Trade will be fair and reciprocal.
Trump will protect American Workers and American intellectual property, and use trade sanctions as enforcement.
Trump also called for the rebuilding of American infrastructure.  He called America a nation of builders, and relayed the story of how the Empire State Building was built on a single year, yet it takes ten years just to get the permits to build a single road today.
He vowed America must do better.  The President called on congress to present to him a 1.5 Trillion infrastructure bill, which would also leverage State and Local governments and even private business to fix America’s infrastructure deficit.
His goal would be to stream line permits, so that the 10-year permit could be done in a single year.
Roads, bridges, waterways, and railroads will be built in America with American Hearts, American Hands, and American Grit.
Trump then speaks about the need for people to have the dignity of work, and that welfare to work programs should create the pathway from poverty to prosperity.
He vowed that a new class of vocational schools would be built to ensure the competitiveness of the American worker.
Trump also offered up prison reform, to give those who have paid their debt to society a true second chance.
Then President Trump turned to immigration.  He calls to attention the loss of life and suffering brought by gangs like MS13.  He called on congress to fix the immigration laws and support ICE and Customs Enforcement.
Trump reminds the world that the USA is a compassionate country, giving more to the world than anyone else, but that America must put America First.
The President will defend Americans right to protect their community, because
AMERICANS ARE DREAMERS TOO.
Immigration Reform Package is a Bi-Partisan Appeal, leaving no one satisfied.
It is built upon Four Pillars:
1. Pathway to citizenship within 12 years to 1.8 million who were brought here as minors. Pathway relies on Education, Work, and Moral Character requirements.
2. Secure the Border – Big Beautiful Wall, and more personnel for ICE etc.
3. End the Visa Lottery – Merit-based immigration only
4. End Chain Migration to just Spouse and minor children
The President vows to attack the opioid crises head-on.
He then vows to rebuild our military, askes congress to end the Defense sequester and to fully fund the military.  Trump says we need to rebuild and modernize our nuclear arsenal, as the world is not yet in a place where everyone is going to just give up their weapons.
Trump vows to extinguish ISIS and reports that they have been removed from almost everywhere they once had control.
Trump also wants to keep Guantanamo Bay open for business.
President Trump also credits his changing the rules of engagement as to helping in Afghanistan.
Trump reminds us that he officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  He also noted that many countries then voted in the United Nations against the USA for exercising her sovereign right. Trump also said that among those countries that voted against the USA, over twenty billion dollars had been given to them by the taxpaying citizens of America.
The President asked congress to withdraw foreign assistance to countries that were enemies to America, and to only provide such assistance to those who were our friends.
Trump then said he stood with the people of Iran against their oppressive regime, and called on congress to fix the Iran deal.
Trump also called to the imposition of sanctions against the communist dictatorships of Cuba and Venezuela.
Trump then turned to North Korea, remarking on Otto Warmbier and a defector named Sung Ho.
Trump vowed that America would remain the light to the world and would stand for freedom, pointing to the statue of Lady Freedom on top of the US Capitol, which itself was a monument to The People.
It is The People who will make America Great Again.
God Bless America

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Tax Repatriation: How the USA can get $310 billion in unplanned tax revenues

Tax Repatriation: How the USA can get $310 billion in unplanned tax revenues

See the Wall Streets Journal's website for the full report at  https://www.wsj.com/graphics/tax-repatriation/?mod=e2tw



TAXING FOREIGN PROFITS

How the Tax Law Will Affect U.S. Firms Bringing Overseas Money Home

Companies have long sheltered foreign profits offshore. Now the tax bill is coming due. How much will they pay?

Published Jan. 16, 2018 at 5:30 a.m. ET
December’s federal tax overhaul gave American companies much of what they wanted on the tax front. For many multinational firms, it came with a price tag.
They must pay a one-time “repatriation” tax on an estimated $2.5 trillion or more of foreign profits accumulated over the past three decades. The U.S. government estimates it will collect $339 billion from the tax over the next decade.
A Wall Street Journal analysis suggests that 311 large publicly traded companies could generate nearly $250 billion of that. But the levy will affect different industries and companies very differently. Here’s how.
For years companies sequestered foreign profits overseas, paying foreign taxes on them and U.S. tax only once cash came to U.S. shores. Some companies accumulated tens of billions of dollars in such profits. An analysis by Zion Research Groupputs the total for the full S&P 500 at about $2.8 trillion.
Those foreign profits are disproportionately generated by technologycompanies, at about 38% of the total, and health care companies, at 23%.
Less profitable and heavily domestic industries account for much less, such as about 8% for industrial firms, according to Zion Research.
Just a handful of the biggest companies are responsible for a disproportionate share of the accumulated foreign profits.
Unremitted Foreign Profits
Caterpillar
Foreign profits: $16.0 billion 
Tax estimate: $1.4 billion
AppleMicrosoftIBMCiscoSystemsAlphabetOracleIntelPfizerJohnson &JohnsonMerckProcter &GambleGeneralElectricCitigroupExxonMobilChevronTECHHEALTH CARECONSUMERINDUSTRIALSFINANCEENERGY

Tax estimate

The taxes companies pay on these profits will vary somewhat, depending on both the size of the profits and how they have been invested. Companies must pay 15.5% on liquid assets, such as cash and a variety of marketable securities, and 8% on other assets.
At networking giant Cisco Systems, for example, cash and cash equivalents held by foreign subsidiaries represented 95% of its $71.1 billion in accumulated foreign profit in 2017. By contrast, retailer Wal-Mart Stores reported that it held $5.9 billion in foreign cash, about 22% of its $26.6 billion in accumulated foreign profits.

Cash and Cash-Equivalent Assets

As companies begin disclosing the actual financial impact of this tax in coming weeks – often in conjunction with fourth-quarter earnings reports – some firms with similar accumulated foreign profits will likely incur very different tax bills.
The figures shown here are estimates. Companies will get some credit for foreign taxes paid on the amounts, and will be allowed to offset foreign profits with some foreign losses. Figures from public financial statements, used here, are likely to differ from those used for tax purposes, which aren’t generally disclosed. (For more detail, see the methodology.)
For example, Kimberly-Clark, the consumer-products giant that makes Huggies diapers, reported $8.9 billion in accumulated foreign profit at the end of its most recent fiscal year, about the same as mutual-fund giant Franklin Resources’s $9 billion. But cash-rich Franklin Resources is likely to pay a higher tax bill than Kimberly-Clark, which has more non-financial assets.
Zion Research’s analysis found that just five companies could wind up paying a third of the tax. “Literally a handful of companies are responsible for large chunks of the earnings and the cash overseas,” founder David Zion said.
Estimated Repatriation Tax
AppleMicrosoftCiscoSystemsIBMAlphabetQualcommOracleIntelPfizerJohnson &JohnsonMerckProcter &GamblePepsiCoGeneralElectricExxonMobilTECHHEALTH CARECONSUMERINDUSTRIALSFINANCEENERGY
It remains to be seen what companies will do with their foreign cash once they are able to use it in the U.S. without additional tax. Policymakers hope they will invest it in the U.S. to expand production and create jobs. Economists and many investors expect bigger dividends and stock buybacks – Mr. Zion estimates that, after paying the one-time tax, companies in the S&P 500 could repurchase 4.1% of their combined market capitalization.
Companies generally declined to comment on their expected obligations under the tax on their accumulated foreign profit, saying they planned to disclose figures with or before fourth-quarter financial results.