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In today’s issue, senior political reporter Jonathan Allen talks about the freebies Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are keeping as part of their campaign platforms. Plus, CNN’s bombshell report on Mark Robinson shakes up the North Carolina governor’s race.
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Trump’s tax rollover will deliver freebies in the 2024 election
Author: Jonathan Allen
As president, Donald Trump slashed lucrative tax breaks enjoyed by coastal donors and suburban swing-state voters. Now he’s promising to return the deduction — if only he’s put back in the Oval Office.
Trump’s aides say he won’t hold hostage or even hit the $10,000 annual cap he placed on the federal deduction that taxpayers can claim on their state and local taxes — the “SALT cap” in Washington parlance. Instead, the campaign official said, Trump is responding to new economic realities by pursuing a “two-track” solution. The first is to promote pro-growth policies, and the second is to adopt tax positions that allow people to keep more of their money.
What changed more than the economy are Trump’s needs, said Caroline Bruckner, executive director of American University’s Kogod Tax Policy Center.
“The change to the limits on the deductibility of state and local taxes was an easy game to target revenue to blue states,” Bruckner said of the 2017 law, which used the SALT cap as a budget offset to pay for other tax cuts. “Now it appears that higher-income taxpayers in swing states have succeeded in appealing to Trump.”
The flip is one of the freebies that Trump and his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, are offering voters in the run-up to Election Day. Together, they promise a tax break in every pot.
Both candidates promise to stop taxing tips for service workers. Trump says he will spare retirees from paying Social Security taxes. Harris is pumping steroids into the Biden administration’s proposals to expand the child tax credit and subsidize first-time home buyers. He also offers a deduction of up to $50,000 in the first year for small business startups.
There are also big spending promises, such as Trump’s announcement — the details of which have yet to be fleshed out — that he would offer free in vitro fertilization treatments to people trying to conceive.
“It’s a silly season when everything is free,” said former Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., who was a leader of GOP moderates in Congress.
Read more →
Mark Robinson vowed to stay in the NC gubernatorial race after he reported inflammatory comments on a porn site
By Adam Edelman and Alexandra Marquez
Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina, vowed Thursday to stay in the race after a report that he made dozens of lewd and disgusting comments on a pornography website message board more than 10 years ago.
A report published by CNN said Robinson called himself a “black NAZI”, expressed support for the restoration of slavery, said he enjoyed watching transgender pornography and told sexually gruesome stories, including his memories of “peeping” on women in gym showers when he was 14- year old. The posts were made under the username “minisoldr” between 2008 and 2012, CNN reported, before Robinson, who was elected lieutenant governor in 2020, entered politics.
In a video sent to X before the story was published, Robinson denied the report, calling it “tabloid trash.”
“Let me reassure you: the things you see in this story are not Mark Robinson’s words. You know my words, you know my character and you know I’ve been completely transparent in this race and before,” he said in the video.
“We’re staying in this race, we’re in it to win it, and we know with your help we will,” he added.
The report was the latest blow to Republicans in a critical battleground state race where Robinson, who is backed by Donald Trump, has been battling Democratic candidate Josh Stein. The importance of North Carolina has also increased in the presidential race after Kamala Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.
Read more →
Black swing-state voters overwhelmingly support Harris — with key differences in age and gender
Written by Stephanie Perry and Curtis Bunn
An overwhelming majority of black likely voters in battleground states said they would vote for Kamala Harris in November — even though she will have to close the deal with some skeptical undecideds to match Joe Biden’s 2020 margins among black voters.
According to data from a new Howard University Initiative public opinion poll of 963 black likely voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the seven battleground states for the election — 82 percent of respondents say they will vote. Vote for Harris, while 12% say they will vote for Donald Trump. Another 5 percent are undecided, and 1 percent plan to choose another candidate.
In the same battleground states, 89 percent of black voters supported Biden, compared to 9 percent for Trump, according to 2020 exit poll results.
While black swing state voters are largely behind Harris, there are some important differences among black voters.
Among black voters over 50, 89% said they supported Harris, but among those under 50, that number dropped to 75%.
Among black men under 50, Harris had a 50-point lead compared to a 78-point lead among men over 50. Among young women, Harris’s margin is 65 points, but among older women it is 84 points.
Meanwhile, black swing-state voters with a college degree support Harris over Trump by 73 points, while black voters without a college degree support Harris over Trump by 68 points. According to the poll, younger and less educated voters are more likely to support Trump.
Read more →
🗳️ GOTV: The NAACP told NBC News it plans to spend $20 million to mobilize black voters in 12 states this fall. Read more →
📊 The survey says: Mark Murray understands the range of national and battleground state polls released in the last 24 hours. Read more →
🗞️ Today’s top stories
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🤝 Guy: Henry J. Gomez and Allan Smith investigate the “buddy” relationship between Trump and JD Vance. Read more →
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🌽 Omaha! Sen. Lindsey Graham met with Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and about two dozen Republican lawmakers on behalf of the Trump campaign as part of an effort to change the way Nebraska distributes Electoral College votes. Read more →
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🙅 Still uncommitted: The Non-Aligned Movement of Palestinian Democrats is not endorsing Harris, but has made clear its opposition to Trump and other third-party candidates. Read more →
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💻 Hacking: According to the FBI, Iranian hackers sent material stolen from the Trump campaign to people associated with the Biden campaign. Read more →< /a>
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✈️ Coming to Springfield: Trump said Wednesday he plans to travel to Springfield, Ohio “in the next two weeks.” Read more →
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🗣️ Long history: Opposition to undocumented immigration has been a consistent feature of Trump’s presidential campaigns since the day he announced his 2016 bid. Read more →
That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have any feedback – like it or not – send us an email at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
