After President Donald Trump floated the idea in recent days of a 10 percent middle class tax cut and even talked about Congressional action on it before the November elections, the chief Republican tax writer in Congress said Tuesday that he would sit down with Trump Administration officials in 'coming weeks' to fill in the details of what the President wants to do when it comes to a new package of tax cuts.
"President Trump is determined to provide further tax relief for middle-class families," said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, who spearheaded approval of the original GOP tax cut plan, which Republicans had hoped would prove to be a powerful tool in the 2018 mid-term elections.
"We will continue to work with the White House and Treasury over the coming weeks to develop an additional 10 percent tax cut focused specifically on middle-class families and workers, to be advanced as Republicans retain the House and Senate," Brady said, making it clear that a new tax cut proposal is unlikely to be introduced as soon as next week - and is very dependent on what happens in the mid-term elections for the Congress.
During a Tuesday photo op with reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon, the President characterized the possible tax cut plan as one which would be 'net neutral' - a phrase like that might normally be taken to mean that the package would be 'revenue neutral,' in that it would not increase the deficit, which would require the inclusion of either other tax increases or spending cuts to offset the cost.
But since there were no real details - other than the headline of a 10 percent tax cut - it was impossible to figure out exactly what the mystery Trump tax cut would look like, as the President again kept referring to the tax cut as a 'resolution' in Congress - a legislative term which would not readily apply to an actual tax cut bill, but instead to what is known as a "non-binding resolution" which has no force of law.
Earlier in the day, the President's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, was asked by reporters for details of the tax cut proposal, which President Trump first floated on Saturday during a campaign stop in Nevada.
"Right now, the person who is discussing the 10 percent tax cut for the White House is the President, and so you should go to the press office and to the President if you want more information on that," Hassett said.
Credit: Jamie Dupree
Credit: Jamie Dupree
Democrats crowed about the President's talk of an October surprise tax cut plan, saying it was evidence that the original $1.6 trillion GOP tax cutting package had only benefited the rich, and had not helped average Americans.
"Even Trump realized how bad the first tax scam was and is now pivoting to another," said Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).
"Please don't be fooled by these empty, fantastical promises," Blumenauer added.
"Middle-class families know the GOP law wasn’t written for them," declared Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee.
"We're not seeing big gains from the GOP Tax Scam in Philly," said Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA), using the moniker that many Democrats have slapped on the GOP tax cut.
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