‘Revenge Tax’ removed from the big bill

Republicans have decided to abandon their so-called "revenge tax" — a measure that would have punished countries that have the temerity to impose taxes on U.S. tech and multinational corporations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent swooped in with news of a "new understanding" reached in global tax negotiations, giving lawmakers the excuse they needed to drop the controversial tax and sidestep corporate lobbying backlash.

Bessent claimed the tax was unnecessary due to progress in international agreements championed by the OECD and G20. The thread is a tad…er…boring but, you know. Policy.

Republicans had designed the tax as a retaliatory strike against nations imposing "discriminatory" digital service taxes or the global 15% corporate minimum tax advocated by the Biden administration. The GOP has long grumbled about the latter, branding it a foreign assault on "American sovereignty." 

Abandoning the tax doesn’t just patch diplomatic wounds; it also lightens the load for corporations worried about dampened foreign investment. Yet, this convenient compromise blasts a $52 billion hole in the already shaky math behind the GOP’s sprawling tax, energy, defense, and immigration megabill.

With this decision coming on the heels of a Senate parliamentarian's rejection of several other cost-defraying provisions, lawmakers are scrambling to figure out how they'll pay for their wish list now.

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Prez threatens to sue journalists for journalism

It’s another glorious day in the realm of democracy — where freedom of the press thrives! Except, wait, what’s this? President Donald Trump has apparently decided that journalism is only acceptable if it involves flattering portraits of him, preferably bathed in golden light while taking credit for “obliterating” Iran’s nuclear program.

Spoiler alert: Preliminary intelligence says… not quite.

Last week the New York Times and CNN, two outlets notorious for their inconvenient habit of telling the truth, published reports based on a classified document (which the Defense Intelligence Agency later corroborated) stating that the attack succeeded in setting back Iran’s nuclear ambitions for a whopping couple of months.

In a letter to The Times, a personal lawyer for the president said the newspaper’s article had damaged Trump’s reputation and demanded that the news organization “retract and apologize for” the piece, which the letter described as “false,” “defamatory” and “unpatriotic.” And Trump, as we all know, knows from defamation.

“No retraction is needed,” the paper’s lawyer, David McCraw, wrote in a letter.

“No apology will be forthcoming,” he added. “We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.”

One of my favorite quotes by Napoleon Bonaparte is that you should never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel-full. Or by the pixel-full, these days, eh, Bonny?