Newsletter: Today: Why Trump’s Tax Plan Could Make Californians Blue

Many Californians could feel the pinch under the new Republican tax proposal; the GOP is fighting itself again; Puerto Rico is still struggling mightily; and Hugh Hefner has died at age 91. Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Why Trump’s Tax Plan Could Make Californians Blue

It might seem simple. President Trump’s tax proposal is just nine pages (read it here) and promises “to put more money into the pockets of everyday hardworking people.” The big takeaway is that it has a lot for businesses to like and lots of unanswered questions for everyone else. But one group could be hit especially hard: upper-middle-income wage earners who can deduct big state and local taxes and mortgage interest. (Is it a coincidence they tend to be in Democratic strongholds?) If those deductions go away, many Californians could bear the consequences. Columnist Michael Hiltzik’s assessment: “Don’t buy the spin: The new tax plan is a huge giveaway to the rich.”

Californians reduced their taxable income by $101 billion in 2014, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

(Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)

A GOP at War With Itself

Is it a “great awakening” or time to turn out the lights? Roy Moore’s upset victory in the Alabama Senate primary is rattling the Republican establishment and sending a message to conservative outsiders elsewhere vowing to “drain the swamp.” But some wonder if the GOP can handle more internecine warfare reminiscent of the tea party uprising. With the 2018 midterm elections ahead, Democrats are hoping to appeal to centrist Republicans if the alternative is a wave of candidates with far-right views.

More Politics

-- Trump plans to slash the number of refugees allowed in the U.S. by more than half, to about 45,000, part of a longer-term goal of limiting legal immigration.

-- Will Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price be fired over his use of taxpayer-funded chartered planes? Trump replied with one his favorite answers: “We’ll see.”

Puerto Rico’s Growing Crisis

As of Wednesday, 97% of Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents were without power. Nearly half without drinking water. Food, fuel and gasoline are in short supply. Now, authorities warn a humanitarian crisis is brewing after Hurricane Maria, even as federal relief efforts are ramping up. With disasters across two states and two U.S. territories, could the help have come faster? The Trump administration is being criticized for its response, such as not lifting shipping restrictions known as the Jones Act. Trump insists his administration will get an “A-plus.”

The Original Playboy

Publisher. Libertine. Lightning rod. In his silk pajamas, Hugh Hefner helped change the way Americans thought about sex via a publishing empire he built with borrowed money in the 1950s. Part of what set Playboy apart from other magazines featuring nude women was its intellectual and social aspiration, providing an excuse for some to say they read it for the articles. Most feminists took a much dimmer view. Hefner, who died at age 91, summed it up this way in 1992: “Much of my life has been like an adolescent dream of an adult life. If you were still a boy, in almost a Peter Pan kind of way, and could have just the perfect life that you wanted to have, that’s the life I invented for myself.”

Scandal at USC — Again?

Celebrated Louisville coach Rick Pitino is on administrative leave amid a federal bribery investigation into college basketball that could envelop more big names. It’s already resulted in the arrests of 10 people, including an associate head coach at USC. Columnist Bill Plaschke wants to know: Hasn’t USC learned its lesson by now? After other scandals involving its football and basketball programs, as well as the former dean of its medical school, the latest development “epitomizes the failure of the Trojans family to monitor itself in its rise to the top of the academic and sports worlds,” he writes.

Trouble in the Barracks of Iran’s Army

Iran’s army is one of the largest in the Middle East, with an estimated 350,000 active-duty troops, nearly two-thirds of whom were drafted. Though reports of trouble are rare, three recent shootings involving conscripted soldiers have come to light. Many young draftees say the violence is not surprising, given the physical humiliation, psychological stress and petty corruption they endure during training. “I hate the service and I hate my surroundings,” says one. “I don’t feel any patriotism in my heart.”

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- A college professor who said she has life-threatening allergies wanted two dogs to get off her Southwest flight from Baltimore to LAX. Instead, officers forcibly removed her.

-- A Costa Mesa sky-diver takes the plunge while serving as the videographer of a women’s team at the U.S. Parachute Assn. skydiving nationals in Perris, Calif.

-- Actresses Ellen Page, Kate Mara, Amy Seimetz and director Tali Shalom Ezer discuss making the romantic drama “My Days of Mercy.”

CALIFORNIA

-- California is moving its presidential primary to March in an attempt to make it more relevant.

-- The latest batch of students’ scores on standardized tests in California shows their progress has stalled.

-- The L.A. Police Department is investigating an off-duty officer suspected of driving drunk and causing a crash that killed a boy and his parents on the 605 Freeway.

-- Authorities say a Memphis man with ties to a rival hip-hop artist has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the shooting of rapper Young Dolph in Hollywood.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Megyn Kelly’s first week as an NBC morning show host has included interviews with Jane Fonda (who didn’t want to talk plastic surgery) and Debra Messing (who regrets doing the show).

-- Speaking of Messing, TV critic Lorraine Ali say her return alongside Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally in the “Will & Grace” reboot breathes new life into familiar characters.

-- The Motion Picture Academy film museum being built has received its largest gift yet: a $50-million donation from producer Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

This week in 1969, the story of a lovely lady and a man named Brady premiered on ABC. When four of “The Brady Bunch” kids reunited earlier this year, Christopher Knight (a.k.a. Peter) said: “You know how you don’t grow old for yourself until you see yourself in a photo? Somehow you just don’t see it. It’s as though the show keeps us young in everyone’s mind, but we’re really this old.”

NATION-WORLD

-- Paul Horner, a leading purveyor of fake news in the 2016 presidential election, has died outside Phoenix at age 38.

-- As Mexico City recovers from recent earthquakes, a steady stream of smoke emerging from the nearby Popocatepetl volcano is making people nervous.

-- The U.S. and Mexico may be at odds, but they’ve reached agreement on managing the Colorado River.

-- Iraqi Kurds voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence, but lawmakers in Iraq’s parliament have voiced their strenuous objection.

BUSINESS

-- CBS Corp. is pondering the sale of its historic Television City studio complex in L.A.’s Fairfax district.

-- Want fast food without antibiotics? Order the chicken, but hold the beef and pork.

SPORTS

-- Lakers forward Brandon Ingram says he’s a much more confident player going into this season, and the team is expecting him to take on a leadership role.

-- DirecTV subscribers who want to drop the NFL Sunday Ticket package because of protests during the national anthem reportedly are being offered refunds.

OPINION

-- There’s much to dislike about Trump’s tax plan, but lowering the corporate tax rate isn’t it.

-- Is Newhall Ranch a new model of sustainable sprawl? Absolutely not.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Jared Kushner is registered to vote as a woman. (Wired)

-- How did two young women from rural Southeast Asian villages get wrapped up in an international assassination plot? (GQ)

-- Dining in a private residence: The Chinese equivalent of a supper club is gaining a foothold in California. (Eater)

ONLY IN L.A.

Mozart’s music may be heaven-sent, but his chocolates are from Austria. At the L.A. Philharmonic’s opening gala this week, the latter fell from the sky. Wrapped in elegant paper parachutes, the Mozartkugeln — balls of chocolate and marzipan from the composer’s hometown of Salzburg — descended upon the audience in Walt Disney Concert Hall. What more proof do you need that conductor Gustavo Dudamel is a classical-music rainmaker?

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