John Thune Touts Trump's TCJA, Claims Dems Are 'Losing Their Minds' Amid Push To Codify Tax Relief

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During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) spoke about the Republicans' budget resolution.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. President, as early as today, we expect to take up a budget resolution that will lay

00:03the groundwork for delivering on the Republican agenda.

00:07This resolution is the first step toward a final bill to make permanent the tax relief

00:12we implemented in 2017 and deliver a transformational investment in our border, national, and energy

00:19security, all accompanied by substantial savings measures and common-sense reforms to our government.

00:28And at the prospect of this, Mr. President, Democrats are losing their minds.

00:35Their opposition to the 2017 tax relief, of course, is well-known.

00:39Since the day the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, and before, Democrats have attempted

00:44to mischaracterize – and I would say some would say flat-out lie – about this legislation.

00:49In fact, the Washington Post fact-checker has repeatedly issued three and four pinocchio

00:56responses to Democrats' claims, which center around the falsehood that the Tax Cuts and

01:02Jobs Act was about handouts to corporations and billionaires.

01:07The truth, of course, Mr. President, is not only did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cut taxes

01:13for every income group, but it was working families – working families, not the wealthy

01:21– who received the greatest proportional benefit.

01:24Let me just repeat that.

01:26The truth is that not only did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cut tax rates for every income

01:32group, but it was working families, not the wealthy, who received the greatest proportional

01:38benefit.

01:39Those, Mr. President, are the facts.

01:43But of course, the facts have not gotten in the way of Democrats' continuing to claim

01:46that extending this tax relief is about handouts to billionaires.

01:50Democrats' latest hysteria is centered around the application of budget rules we'll use

01:54for this week's budget resolution.

01:57They claim that using a current policy baseline is somehow destroying Senate rules, even though

02:02the 1974 Congressional Budget Act, which governs this budget resolution, clearly states that

02:09it is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee who determines the budget baseline used for

02:14budget resolutions.

02:16The senior senator from Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, confirmed that it's the

02:21chairman's role in a 2022 report when he was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

02:28And of course, Democrats themselves have previously advocated for the use of a current policy

02:33baseline.

02:35They basically invented it back in 1977, shortly after the Budget Act was enacted.

02:40Chairman Muskie, a Democrat from Maine and chairman of the Budget Committee, used a current

02:45policy baseline in his budget resolution because he thought it represented a more realistic

02:50benchmark.

02:52More recently, President Obama's fiscal year 2013 budget assumed four and a half trillion

02:58dollars of expiring tax cuts would be extended in the Democrats' baseline, matching current

03:05policy at the time.

03:07Jump forward to the Biden administration's most recent budget, in which Democrats explained

03:11that, and I quote, adjustments to the baseline are needed to better represent the deficit

03:17outlook under current policy and to serve as a more appropriate benchmark against which

03:21to measure policy changes, end quote.

03:25So Mr. President, using the current policy baseline is not some bizarre new gimmick.

03:31I should also note, of course, that the Senate parliamentarian has deemed the Senate budget

03:34resolution, which uses the budget policy baseline, in order and ready for floor consideration.

03:41Democrats' sudden concern for saving money and protecting the character of the Senate

03:46is touching.

03:48Who would have guessed that the party that was so eager to tear down a fundamental Senate

03:53institution mere months ago by killing the Senate filibuster would suddenly develop such

03:58a passionate interest in defending the character of the Senate?

04:04But their hysteria is misplaced.

04:08Mr. President, I do understand that Democrats are uncomfortable with the idea of tax relief.

04:13When you think that government knows best, and when your enthusiasm for new government

04:19programs is virtually unlimited, it's no surprise you'd prefer to maximize the flow of taxpayer

04:27dollars to the government.

04:30But Republicans believe, fundamentally, that Americans know best what to do with their

04:35money.

04:37And so no matter how many times Democrats attempt to distort or outright lie about what

04:43we're trying to do here, Republicans intend to deliver a permanent extension of the tax

04:47relief that we passed in 2017.

04:50Failing to extend this tax relief would result in a $2.6 trillion tax increase on those making

04:58less than $400,000 a year, as well as a $600 billion tax increase on small businesses.

05:08A typical family of four making $80,000 a year would end up sending an additional $1,700

05:15to the government next year.

05:18$1,700. I'm quite sure they have better uses for that money than sending it to Uncle Sam.

05:26I said make this tax relief permanent, Mr. President. And I do mean permanent. Senate

05:32Republicans are united with the President in viewing a temporary extension as unacceptable.

05:38Americans should not have to live in fear of a tax hike every few years. And small businesses,

05:46including family farms and ranches like those in my home state of South Dakota, need certainty

05:52about the tax outlook so they can plan for the future. Making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

05:58permanent will ensure that Americans' take-home pay does not go down. And it will have significant

06:05economic benefits.

06:08The National Federation of Independent Business reports that making the Small Business Section

06:12199A deduction permanent would result in the creation of an additional 1.2 million jobs

06:17annually, with that number climbing as the law goes on. And the Tax Foundation reports

06:25that long-run gross domestic product would increase by a substantial 1.1 percent. That

06:32means more jobs and more opportunities for American workers. And, interestingly enough,

06:38increasing federal revenues to the tune of about $3 trillion, which is the right way,

06:45Mr. President, by growing the economy. The economy is growing and expanding. People are

06:50working. They're making money. They're taking realizations. They're paying taxes. And you

06:54know what? Government revenue goes up, not down. Which is exactly what we experienced

06:59when we passed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act seven, eight years ago now.

07:05Mr. President, as I said earlier, it was working families, not the wealthy, who received the

07:10greatest proportional benefit from that Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. And it is working families,

07:15not the wealthy, who will see the greatest proportional benefit from making this tax

07:19relief permanent.

07:22We are here to make sure that hardworking Americans have more breathing room, to make

07:28sure that our economy is providing them with jobs and opportunities, that they are not

07:33facing lower paychecks next year.

07:36Mr. President, I was proud to help draft the 2017 tax relief and put more money in American

07:43families' pockets. And I look forward to permanently extending it in the near future.

07:50Mr. President, I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

John Thune Touts Trump's TCJA, Claims Dems Are 'Losing Their Minds' Amid Push To Codify Tax Relief

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