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THE PURPOSE OF tax reform is to raise revenue more efficiently with fewer loopholes and special breaks that distort economic incentives and necessitate higher marginal rates. In discussing tax reform since President Trumps election, Republicans have promised to do just that: pass a bill with lower rates for both individuals and businesses, applied to an income base broadened by the elimination of deductions and credits.

If you listen very closely to what GOP leaders have been saying lately, however, especially in remarks last week by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Vice President Pence, what youll hear is the carefully chosen words of people planning something thats not real tax reform at all.

Speaking to the National Association of Manufacturers Tuesday, Mr. Ryan pledged to take on defenders of the status quo and then proceeded to defend many of the status quos worst aspects. He pledged to get rid of special-interest carve-outs except for those that make the most sense such as the deduction for mortgage interest. Actually, this distortion of the real estate market is one of the tax codes least sensible features, but it is politically sacrosanct due to the power of the real estate lobby. The only major individual tax break Mr. Ryan seemed to leave on the chopping block was the deduction for state and local taxes, which disproportionately favors states that send Democrats to Congress. Any GOP tax plan would eliminate the estate tax, Mr. Ryan insisted thus entrenching the concentration of wealth in the United States.

Somewhat more plausibly, Mr. Ryan advocated a new corporate tax system, with a lower top rate, so as to discourage shifting production abroad. However, he gave few specifics and seemed to soft-pedal the means of paying for the plan he and his House colleagues had previously offered a so-called border adjustment that would raise tens of billions of dollars per year, essentially by taxing the U.S. trade deficit. He referred to a new, lower tax, specifically for small businesses, which could translate into a costly new benefit for pass-through entities, such as sole proprietorships and S corporations.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pence repeated the Trump administrations promise that the end result of any tax rewrite will be tax cuts, implicitly endorsing the dubious notion that the U.S. economy lags due to an excessive tax burden. And not just any tax cut, Mr.Pence said, but the largest tax cut since the days of Ronald Reagan, meaning even bigger than those enacted by President George W. Bush. So much for the idea that tax reform ought to be revenue-neutral. Given that Mr. Trump and Congress cannot and should not cut spending enough to offset such large revenue losses, what may be in the offing is tax reform that ratchets up federal debt.

Mr. Ryan, too, alluded to the need for tax cuts. That made the weeks GOP messaging unanimous and reinforced suspicions that, for all their talk of reform, slashing taxes, mainly for the wealthy and corporations, is the one policy that Republicans agree on and therefore the only policy they are actually going to enact.

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The Republican tax-reform plan isn't reform at all - Washington Post

The Republican health care bill is continuing to receive harsh criticism, especially after they released a 142 page draft that proposed cutting almost a trillion dollars from Medicaid and to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood. The day the draft was revealed, protesters in wheelchairs were arrested for protesting outside of Mitch McConnell's office, and photos circulated the internet showing those individuals being removed from their wheelchairs and arrested.

Highlighting the cruelty of the healthcare bill, in perhaps one of the most heartbreaking ways possible, Ali Chandra wrote a Twitter thread explaining the costs and complications involved in her young son Ethan's rare medical condition, called Heterotaxy, a birth defect that affects the heart and other vital organs.

"I was immediately shocked at how cruel it was," wrote Chandra, in a comment to The FADER, speaking about the recently released draft. "And how it seems to reduce our children's lives to lines in a budget."

"I would tell [Republican lawmakers] that politics are always personal," wrote Chandra. "That the laws they write will have real, tangible consequences for living, breathing humans. I would ask them whether they would be able to vote yes for this bill if it were their own child's life or their own financial security [were] on the line. Honestly, I just want them to look me in the eyes and explain how they can justify creating and passing a bill that would say to my son that his life is too expensive to save."

You can read Chandra's full Twitter thread below. With the vote on the bill most likely coming this week, activists and everyday citizens are organizing to fight against the passing of such a harmful piece of legislation. For ways to contact your senator to tell them that you don't support the passing of the health care bill look to The FADER's guide to stop the Senate from taking away healthcare from 23 million people.

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This Twitter Thread Shows Just How Bad The Republican Health Care Bill Could Be - The FADER

President Trump whipped out an afternoon tweetstorm Saturday, railing against the Obama administration and boosting Senate Republicans for their healthcare reform efforts.

Since the Obama Administration was told way before the 2016 Election that the Russians were meddling, why no action? Trump asked at 4:28 pm. Focus on them, not T!

Almost 20 minutes later, he posted, Obama Administration official said they choked when it came to acting on Russian meddling of election. They didnt want to hurt Hillary?

The tweets seemed to refer to a Washington Post story about the Obama administrations knowledge of Russian interference during the 2016 election campaign and its passive reaction that failed to stop it.

At 4:50, Trump took up a new theme.

I cannot imagine that these very fine Republican Senators would allow the American people to suffer a broken ObamaCare any longer! he wrote.

Five GOP senators have voiced opposition to the Senates Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017. Passing the bill will require all but two of them to vote in its favor.

Finally, he wrapped up with his signature line MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! at 5:23.

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Trump rails on Obama admin and republican senate opposition - New York Post

To illustrate why she believes everyone should have access to comprehensive health care, Rep. Maxine Waters said she and her 12 siblings never saw a physician or a dentist their entire childhood.

I was born at home in St. Louis back in the day when it was hard for minorities to get into hospitals, she said.

To soothe cavities, Waters said her family relied on turpentine and cotton. If it was really bad, the tooth was yanked out using string and a slammed door.

The California Democrat, who spoke Saturday at a packed town hall meeting in Gardena, said she worries some Americans will be forced to do what her family did if the Republican health care bill passes. Senate Republicans have pledged to pass a bill before the July Fourth holiday.

Some GOP senators have said they want to review the analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office before making up their minds. The budget office has said it will release that assessment early next week.

Waters said the existing bill would deny access to people with preexisting conditions, cause millions to lose their healthcare and penalize millennials.

We can do better than this, she said.

Supporter Gwen Bailey, 59, who works doing admissions at a hospital, said she worries especially about the people who could lose their insurance and the strain it would put on hospitals.

Its a lot that people would be losing, she said.

Inside, chants of USA! USA! could be heard from around 80 protesters who paced back and forth outside the venue.

Waters opponents were dressed in pro-Trump garb and called her Dirty Waters.

Chanell Temple said she lost her job a few years ago and hasnt been able to find a new one because she doesnt speak Spanish. She said Waters has destroyed the black community by supporting immigrants.

Waters criticized key members of President Trumps cabinet, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. She said Housing Secretary Ben Carson should go back to being a surgeon and that shell take him apart when he goes before the House Committee on Financial Services, of which she is the ranking Democrat.

Waters said some Republicans might vote against the health care bill.

She told the crowd that they deserve a president who will represent everyone. A woman in the audience stood up with a sign that said Impeach Mad Max and began walking through the rows and up to the foot of the stage, yelling that Waters needs to go.

Waters didnt skip a beat. She led her supporters in a chant to Impeach 45, repeating it over and over as her supporters turned to face the woman and narrowed in on her, clapping to the beat. The chant lasted more than four minutes.

A short while later, Waters closed by repeating a phrase that millennials, who call her Auntie Maxine, taught her: Stay woke.

andrea.castillo@latimes.com

An earlier version of this article said Rep. Maxine Waters had 13 siblings. She had 12.

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Rep. Maxine Waters speaks out on Republican health care bill at packed town hall meeting, as protesters gather outside - Los Angeles Times

Meanwhile, more than 20,000 Ukrainians have already taken advantage of an easing of visa requirements by 30 European countries that was granted as an incentive for Kiev to adhere to E.U. standards.

For the mentality of the country to change, to get rid of the Soviet legacy, you need to see other parts of the world, one owner of a small business said.

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The grim deaths of two brothers from the Senegalese village of Togo, above, match those of a growing number of young African men who are determined to reach Europe or die trying.

More than 2,100 migrants and refugees have drowned this year in the Mediterranean. But the sea is only one in a deadly series of obstacles. Its a suicide mission, one man said.

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In Washington, Senate Republicans released their version of the health care bill. It would shift resources from the poor to the wealthy.

Separately, President Trump said he did not record meetings with James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, largely confirming suspicions that he had been bluffing previously.

Canada, meanwhile, is bypassing confrontation with the White House by taking its business directly to American state and local governments.

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Amid the searing summer heat, spare a thought for Romes police officers, scrambling to control the hordes of tourists who descend upon the Eternal Citys historic sites.

Many of these tourists, whom some call the New Barbarians, brandish selfie sticks. Some climb on sculptures. And then there are the skinny dippers, the gawkers and those with dripping ice cream.

If you are seeking respite from the heat or want to avoid the crowds, consider exploring the treasures hidden in Italys historic libraries.

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Somewhat cooler temperatures are forecast for much of Europe, but a new analysis found that 35-degree Celsius days are expected to become much more frequent in the coming decades, hurting crop yields and straining electric grids.

Just how hot it will get depends on what action is taken to slow climate change. If no action is taken, large swaths of sub-Saharan Africa will experience those temperatures for most of the year.

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You can imagine the uproar among frites-stall operators in Brussels when E.U. officials proposed changes to an age-old (but probably carcinogenic) cooking process. Heres a look at the E.U.s politically charged food disputes.

BMW and Volkswagen are trying to build the computing capacity they will need as vehicles digitize and become driverless.

Uber announced that passengers would soon be able to tip through the app a move meant to mend fences with drivers. Thats just one of the changes to come.

As millennials enter the labor force, employers are contending with helicopter parents.

Heres a snapshot of global markets.

The British authorities said they had found at least 11 buildings that shared the same kind of cladding with the apartment tower that burned in London. [The New York Times]

Lawmakers in Germany voted to quash the convictions of tens of thousands of gay men persecuted under a law that was repealed in 1994. The estimated 5,000 victims who are still alive have been promised compensation. [The Guardian]

Senior officials in the Church of England, including a former archbishop of Canterbury, colluded with a bishop to help cover up his serial abuse of young men and boys, an independent review found. [The New York Times]

Germanys intelligence services are said to have carried out extensive espionage in the United States. [Der Spiegel]

Surveillance footage we analyzed suggests that Al Nuri Grand Mosque, in Mosul, was blown up from the inside and not hit by an airstrike. [The New York Times]

Who wants to be king? No one in his family, says Prince Harry, fifth in line to the British throne. [The New York Times]

Long-haul truck drivers offer practical advice about highway safety.

Here are tips to prepare for the challenges of college life and what comes after.

Recipe of the day: Ramadan is coming to an end. Whether youre Muslim or not, consider these Eid al-Fitr recipes for a family feast.

Astronomical salaries in soccer, driven by the cash-soaked Premier League, Europes superclubs and the lure of Chinas riches, demand the question: How much is a player really worth?

If you are headed to Russia for the Confederations Cup, or otherwise, consider taking the kids along. St. Petersburg, it turns out, is a great family travel destination. And heres the tournaments schedule.

Wim Wenders, the German film director, will make his debut staging an opera at the Staatsoper in Berlin tomorrow.

Lo-fi rap is thriving on SoundCloud, the streaming service. We stage-dived into hip-hops unruly new underground.

Finally, our movie critic says the new Transformers movie, The Last Knight, is surprisingly good, thanks largely to Anthony Hopkins.

Sightings of U.F.O.s have been reported around the world, but none are more famous than one 70 years ago.

In June of 1947, W. W. Brazel, a rancher in New Mexico, came across some odd debris. A few days later, he whispered kinda confidential-like to the local sheriff that it might be remnants of a flying disk.

A local military base, the Roswell Army Air Field, issued a release about the debris, prompting a newspaper article headlined RAAF Captures Flying Saucer.

Officials changed their story the next day, saying the debris came from a weather balloon, but Roswell has since been nearly synonymous with tales of alien visitations.

Almost exactly 20 years ago, the Air Force tried to end the speculation. In The Roswell Report: Case Closed, officials wrote that any aliens spotted in the desert were actually anthropomorphic test dummies carried aloft by Air Force high-altitude balloons.

As for Mr. Brazel, he didnt believe the debris was a weather balloon, but he regretted setting off the furor.

In the future, he said, if I find anything else besides a bomb, they are going to have a hard time getting me to say anything about it.

Evan Gershkovich contributed reporting.

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This briefing was prepared for the European morning. We also have briefings timed for the Australian, Asian and American mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters here.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online.

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'Brexit', Republican Party, Confederations Cup: Your Friday Briefing - New York Times