NSN SUMMARY- SEPT 27, 2017

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!

O’Reilly’s interview on FOX News Channel with Sean Hannity

The interview is posted on BillOReilly.com if you did not get a chance to watch the interview. It’s well worth checking out. We went a lot of places and covered a lot of topics. A big thanks to Sean for having me on his show especially because Media Matters threatened him. Media Matters wants to silence me, they’ve already smeared me, but they don’t want me anywhere near a national news program.

The BIG story of the day: President Trump trying to get tax reform passed

As I’ve been saying, Trump must get this passed, if it isn’t you can say goodbye to the Trump presidency. It may not be fair, it may not be right, it’s just reality. I think there will be 2 or 3 Republicans who don’t support the tax cuts, just like the GOP health care bill, but Trump has a good chance of peeling off 3 or 4 Democratic senators to support his tax plan. If Trump gets this passed I believe his approval rating will jump 10 points.

Working poor people could owe no income tax, filing a return could get much simpler, and there would even be a new credit for caring for elderly relatives under a tax "framework" being proposed Wednesday by President Trump and Republican leaders in Congress. 

The plan cuts the top corporate tax rate dramatically and creates a new top rate for small businesses that is lower than the top rate for individuals. 

It also eliminates two taxes paid entirely by the rich, while taking away a deduction for state and local taxes that is used most heavily in some of the most wealthy, and Democrat-dominated, states. 

Exactly how many other deductions and credits disappear to help pay for it all, and how much gets added to the deficit or must be offset with other budget cuts, may not be worked out for a while — even though Republicans are eager to move taxes to the front burner after another defeat this week on revamping health insurance. 

Fewer brackets, new rates:

• The seven individual income tax brackets in place now, which range from 10% to 39.6%, would be replaced by 12%, 25% and 35%. 

Congress may, however, add a bracket higher than 35% if it needs to ensure the overhaul "does not shift the tax burden from high-income to lower- and middle-income taxpayers," the plan said. 

Income levels for each tax rate are to be determined, so it's not possible at this point to determine how individual taxpayers would be affected. 

The proposed bottom rate of 12% is higher than the 10% the White House said it was seeking in a one-page list of goals for tax reform released in April. But people paying 10% now may not owe any tax under the new plan. 

The plan would nearly double the standard deduction, the amount that's subtracted from incomes before the tax rate is applied. The deduction would grow from $6,350 to $12,000 for individuals and from $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples. 

Some of that increase, however, would be offset by the elimination of personal exemptions for a taxpayer and spouse. In 2017, those exemptions were worth $4,050, meaning a taxpayer and spouse could reduce their income by $9,100 before calculating how much tax was owed. 

Taxes on wealthy eliminated

The plan eliminates the individual Alternative Minimum Tax, which is designed to prevent people from avoiding tax entirely through deductions and credits and overwhelmingly is paid by the rich. 

In 2014, 4.1 million of the 4.2 million people who paid AMT made more than $100,000 and the tax they paid totaled nearly $28 billion, according to IRS data. 

The plan also eliminates the estate tax, which is charged only on estates worth about $5.5 million or more. Supporters of eliminating this tax say it can force family-owned businesses to be broken up and sold to pay taxes, affecting workers' jobs.

National Anthem: America Agrees With Trump

On the NFL issue, it’s not really right what is happening. Last year, when Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem it was because of police brutality. He believes that US policemen go out everyday hunting African Americans and giving them a hard time. It has since morphed into an inequality issue. What’s currently going on is a bunch of garbage, but to get minority athletes on national television to disrespect America is a big win for the far left. I want everybody to be very aware of the big picture on how these athletes are being used now to cast an aspersion on America. Once again the far left is succeeding because there are very few voices like mine and Hannity’s that are heard on a national level. 

A survey by Remington Research Group found that 64 percent of voters agree with President Trump and want players to stand for the anthem. 

The survey also found that 80 percent of voters want less politics in sports, while 51 percent say they are watching less football than in previous years. 

Do you think NFL players should stand and be respectful during the national anthem? Yes: 64% No: 24% Unsure: 12% 

On Sunday, a number of NFL players knelt during the national anthem in protest of Donald Trump’s statements, including players from your favorite team. Does this make you more likely or less likely to watch your favorite team’s games in the future? More likely: 30% Less likely: 50% No difference: 20%

Among those watching less football, 69 percent pointed to “Players using the NFL as a stage for their political views” as the primary reason why. 

A majority of Americans disagree with President Donald Trump's assertion that football players should be fired for kneeling during the national anthem, even though most say they would personally stand during the song, according to an exclusive Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday. 

The Sept. 25-26 poll found that 57 percent of adults do not think the National Football League should fire players who kneel. 

This included 61 percent of NFL fans who watch at least a few games per season. 

The results were split along party lines, however, as 82 percent of Democrats and 29 percent of Republicans disagreed with the president's comments about firing football players.
 

The Reuters/Ipsos poll explored the complicated feelings that many Americans have about how to express their nationality.

Eighty-five percent of adults said, for example, that they almost always "stand in silence" when the national anthem is played at an event they are attending. Seventy-four percent said they almost always put their hand over their heart. 

In the latest poll, 40 percent of Americans said that they support the stance that some pro football players have made to not stand during the anthem. 

That is up from 28 percent who answered the same way in a similar Reuters/Ipsos poll last year. 

In addition, 53 percent of Americans do not think it is appropriate for the president to comment on "how the NFL and its players conduct themselves during the national anthem."

Bernie Goldberg’s takes on the NFL

Bernie Goldberg picks up on two points from the O’Reilly NFL assessment, saying that the media has turned protesters into heroes. For example, let’s say some Caucasian players say the biggest obstacle to inequality involving African-Americans is not racism, it’s fatherlessness. So they take a knee before the game to highlight their moral concern that we’re also passionately concerned about, just as Colin Kaepernick and others are morally and passionately are concerned about their cause. Do you think the media would turn those protesters into heroes?! 

There are African American athletes who don’t agree with kneeling during the national anthem, but if they step forward, they are the divisive ones. They would be the ones who are causing a lack of cohesion on the team. 

Views to the left of center are viewed as middle of the road. They’re thought of as moderate, reasonable and sensible. But, views to the right of center are viewed as alien and requiring a warning label like those on packs of cigarettes “these opinions may be harmful to your mental health. 

We are so polarized, we are so divided that there are elements on both sides that don’t even want to hear the other sides’ arguments.

Poll: Just 54 Percent Know Puerto Ricans Are US Citizens

A new poll of 2,200 adults by Morning Consult found that only 54 percent of Americans know that people born in Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States, are U.S. citizens. (Because Puerto Rico is not a state, they do not vote in presidential elections, but they send one nonvoting representative to Congress.) This finding varied significantly by age and education. 

Only 37 percent of people ages 18 to 29 know people born in Puerto Rico are citizens, compared with 64 percent of those 65 or older.

Similarly, 47 percent of Americans without a college degree know Puerto Ricans are Americans, compared with 72 percent of those with a bachelor’s degree and 66 percent of those with a postgraduate education. 

In the poll, support for additional aid was strongly associated with knowledge of the citizenship status of Puerto Ricans.

More than 8 in 10 Americans who know Puerto Ricans are citizens support aid, compared with only 4 in 10 of those who do not. Being informed about the citizenship status of Puerto Ricans also modestly increases support for aid.

Overall, 64 percent of Americans in the poll who were given no additional information said that Puerto Rico should receive additional government aid to help rebuild the territory, while 14 percent said it was not necessary and 20 percent said they did not know or had no opinion. But when a random sample of participants was informed that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens before answering this question, support for aid increased four percentage points, to 68 percent.

Devastation in Puerto Rico with little help in sight

At least 16 people have been confirmed dead in connection with the storm, but the death toll is expected to increase as officials in the capital, San Juan, receive reports from outlying areas. 

About 97% of the island's 3.4 million residents are still in the dark Wednesday, one week after Hurricane Maria slammed into the Puerto Rico, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said. 

About half of the residents do not have running water. 

Flights off the island are infrequent, communications are spotty and roads are clogged with debris. Officials said electrical power may not be fully restored for more than a month.

Record $135 billion a year for illegal immigration, average $8,075 each, $25,000 in NY

FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, is a non-partisan, public interest organization of concerned Americans, united in the belief that our immigration policies and laws should again serve the nation’s future needs. This means better border management, lower levels of overall immigration, and a greater focus on highly skilled immigrants.  

FAIR evaluates policies, seeking out solutions that help reduce the negative impact of uncontrolled immigration on the nation’s security, economy, workforce, education, healthcare, and environment.

FAIR seeks to reduce overall immigration to a more normal level. 

The swelling population of illegal immigrants and their kids is costing American taxpayers $135 billion a year, the highest ever, driven by free medical care, education and a huge law enforcement bill, according to the most authoritative report on the issue yet. 

And despite claims from pro-illegal immigration advocates that the aliens pay significant off-setting taxes back to federal, state and local treasuries, the Federation for American Immigration Reform report tallied just $19 billion, making the final hit to taxpayers about $116 billion. 

State and local governments are getting ravaged by the costs, at over $88 billion.

The federal government, by comparison, is getting off easy at $45 billion in costs for illegals.

The report, titled "The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers," is the most comprehensive cost tally from FAIR.

It said that the costs have jumped about $3 billion in four years and will continue to surge unless illegal immigration is stopped.

Mail Time!

• Mr. O’Reilly, what an incredible show last night with Hannity. My 2 sons aged 19 and 35, watched with me and kept saying ‘Dad, he’s right. You always said everyone should be listening to this.’ So proud of my boys. 

• Bill, we need to have a conversation about another phrase that should be banned, “dog whistle”. 

• The most stunning thing I’ve heard about the NFL controversy is that Direct TV is offering refunds to subscribers who want to cancel the Sunday ticket. 

• O’Reilly, you were awesome on Hannity! You should go fishing and enjoy life, Bill, you deserve it.