[naviga:h3]Tax package would ease hit to residents of high-tax states[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans are speeding toward an agreement on a massive tax package that would ease the hit on residents of high-tax states and appease corporations that could have lost precious tax breaks. Two congressional aides said negotiators were working to expand a deduction for state and local taxes to allow individuals to deduct income taxes as well as property taxes.

[naviga:h3]House, Senate tax bills treat disaster victims unequally[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — If the House Republican tax bill became law, victims of hurricanes in Texas and Florida could deduct their losses on next year’s taxes. Not so for victims of the California wildfires. If the Senate version prevailed, fire and storm victims could both deduct their losses. But people who lost homes in smaller-scale disasters couldn’t. Such disparities show how political decisions are shaping the tax legislation being crafted by Republicans.

[naviga:h3]Paris hosts major climate summit, and it’s all about Trump[/naviga:h3]

PARIS — The global climate summit in Paris was designed to bypass Donald Trump, but the U.S. president ended up playing a starring role. Trump became the unwitting villain as world leaders, investors and other Americans assailed him for rejecting the Paris climate accord. To emphasize their point — and prevent others from following his lead — they announced more than $1 billion in investments to make it easier for countries and industries to give up oil and coal.

[naviga:h3]Trump signs $700B military budget into law[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed into law a sweeping defense policy bill that authorizes a $700 billion budget for the military.

The bill includes additional spending on missile defense programs to respond to the growing nuclear weapons threat from North Korea. But there’s a catch. The $700 billion budget won’t become reality until lawmakers agree — and they haven’t yet — to roll back a 2011 law that set strict limits on federal spending, including by the Defense Department.

[naviga:h3]U.S. wholesale prices up 0.4% in November[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — Prices at the wholesale level rose 0.4 percent in November and 3.1 percent over the past year. It was the biggest annual jump in nearly six years and reflected a big spike in the price of gasoline and other energy products.

[naviga:h3]U.S. budget deficit totals $138.5B in November[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — The federal government collected a record amount of tax income for the month of November and also had a record level of spending for the month, producing a budget deficit of $138.5 billion, up slightly from a year ago. The Treasury Department says the November deficit was 1.4 percent higher than a year ago.