THE TAX BILL – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  Reports from Washington tell us that the GOP tax bill is making progress, although it's actually two bills - one in the House, the other in the Senate.  But both bills have some important items in common.  From Lawrence Kudlow at Investor's Business Daily:   

As the House and Senate work their way through the tax cut and reform effort, let me make one thing clear: Both plans are pro-growth, with the economic power coming from the business side.

And where it comes from the personal side, there will be very little growth. That has always been the bet.

During the spring and summer of 2016, economist Steve Moore and I, working with Trump campaign officials Steven Mnuchin and Stephen Miller, saw major tax reductions for large and small businesses as the centerpiece of the candidate's tax policy. Whatever Congress came up with on the personal side, so be it.

So, one way or another -- even with the glitches and differences between the House and Senate tax plans -- Congress will come up with a significant pro-growth bill because business tax cuts are still the centerpiece. And they should do it this year.

I spoke at a Senate Republican breakfast in Washington, D.C., last Tuesday. The whole leadership was there. And I observed a total commitment among the GOP senators to get a tax bill through by year-end. This will not be another health care breakdown.

Particularly after recent GOP electoral setbacks, the party knows it needs a strong tax-cut and economic-growth narrative for the 2018 midterms. If Republicans don't get it, they'll lose control of Congress. And if they do get it, they may pick up seats.

The political stakes are high.

As mentioned, there are glitches in both the Senate and House tax plans. But most of them can be corrected. And the differences between the two plans should narrow in conference.

COMMENT:  Well, okay, but I think Kudlow, whom I admire, underestimates the importance, both financial and political, of the personal side.   The GOP must satisfy the Trump base, or there won't be a base.

November 13, 2017