NEW SENATE TAX BILL WILL SAVE DONALD TRUMP $1 BILLION!

From the editor:  Since last Sunday, December 3,

I've been waiting for the transcript of Fareed Zakaria's weekly show, Global Public Square or GPS, containing, among other things, a discussion about the Senate tax bill between T.R. Reid and Zakaria.  

During that conversation, Reid details the fact that likely one of the largest beneficiaries of the plan will be Donald Trump himself.  We reprint below the last half of that conversation:

ZAKARIA: I've always thought one of the reasons

Fareed Zakaria

our tax code is so complicated is that Congress raises money for its re-election. Congressmen. And what they have -- they have to sell something. And what they're giving their contributors are special favors in the tax code. You know, it feels like so many of these are so specific. For example, commercial real estate has this bonanza of specific tax breaks designed only for commercial real estate.

REID: Yes. And you know, they never tell you who really gets it. There is a -- there is a give-away in the tax code for any manufacturing company incorporated in Delaware on June 16th of 1913. Well, that would be General Motors. But they don't tell you who got the benefit. And of course the congressman from Michigan put that one in. ZAKARIA: When I look at this tax reform bill, though, it seems to

violate almost all the lessons in your book because it actually complexifies the code. There are so many complicated distinctions between partnerships and pass-through entities. And it doesn't really get rid of many deductions. It doesn't seem to move us toward that kind of simpler, fairer system.

REID: Well, that's true. But there is some good

T.R. Reid

stuff in this bill. They do get rid of some really -- some of the really stupid exemptions and credits. I make fun of in my book. For example, if you buy $138,000 BMW, a hybrid, made in Germany, the government gives you $7500 tax credit. That seems stupid to me. They got rid of that one.

Doubling the standard deduction for ordinary tax-paying families, that's a good thing. That will simplify the taxes. So I think there is some good stuff in this bill.

ZAKARIA: But if you buy an office building, then --

(LAUGHTER)

REID: Then you really --

ZAKARIA: You can deduct 90 percent -- of the interest. You can depreciate it. When you sell it, you never have to pay taxes. And since the state taxes go away, your children never pay. So the main take-away I get from this tax bill is go into commercial real estate like Donald Trump.

REID: Yes. Donald Trump is going to make out great on this bill. Just eliminating the estate tax will save the Trump family about $1 billion. Not bad deal.
ZAKARIA: T.R., pleasure to have you on.

REID: Great to be on, Fareed. Thanks.