Politics

This afternoon, during a speech in Indianapolis, President Trump will unveil the long-anticipated Republican tax reform proposal that calls for substantial business and individual tax cuts. As has been leaked previously, the tax plan is anticipated to disclose a 35% individual tax rate (although Congress may push it higher), a tax rate on corporations and pass thrus that will be around 20% and 25% respectively, while doubling the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals.

Defense Secretary James Mattis was the target of a failed rocket attack near a key Afghanistan airport Wednesday, the Taliban said, though the attack occurred after he had left the airport. Hours after Mattis landed, as many as 40 rockets were fired at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport from an unknown location and landed in an open area, according to Najib Danish, spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry. US military officials added that a barrage of up to 40 rounds of munitions hit the airport, including 29 rocket-propelled grenades.

The man who made "nein" a household word everywhere, and especially Greece, will no longer be in charge of Europe's biggest economy.

As part of the fallout from Sunday's disastrous, for the CDU election, election which will see Merkel govern in a three-way coalition with the minor German parties, it was expected that Germany's iconic finance minister Wolfgang Schauble would be kicked out of his post. It also means that Germany's pro-business, low-tax FDP, whose support Merkel is likely to need, will be put in charge of the coveted finance ministry position.

After leaking details about the controversial “Russia ads” to the media earlier this week (a decision we presume was made to save investigators the trouble of leaking it themselves), Facebook has revealed to the Financial Times that it expects to finally turn over the more than 3,000 Russia-bought political ads to US lawmakers in the coming days.

Dear Readers: This is your website. It needs your support.

What Can Be Done?

Paul Craig Roberts

Despite clear evidence that Washington has chosen the path to conflict with Russia and China, European governments have not objected. Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltics even seem to demand more conflict or a quicker path to conflict. The European peoples themselves have not elected leadership that is willing to repudiate vassalage to Washington and conduct a rational foreign policy toward Russia.