Scalise Talks Tax Cuts
Washington,
December 12, 2024
Yesterday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) appeared on Fox Business Network's Kudlow to discuss President Trump's successful record of economic growth through tax cuts and Republicans' path forward through reconciliation. Leader Scalise outlined how Republicans will deliver big wins in the first 100 days of the Trump Administration through strong energy and border policies, cutting wasteful spending and regulations, and stopping tax increases.
Click here or the image above to view Leader Scalise's full interview.
On a lack of transparency from the Biden administration on national security matters: “Not much beyond what you've mentioned [on the drones flying over New Jersey], but it does harken back to the Chinese spy balloon when we were lied to. Obviously, a lot of us were raising alarms when it was over Alaska. They could have shot it down over many places in Alaska where there were no people around, and it wouldn't have caused any problems to us. It would have protected America's national security and Biden and his administration lied and said, 'Don't worry, it's not doing anything anyway. It's not communicating with China.' That all turned out to be false. They went over every one of our major military bases. What is happening in New Jersey? We haven't gotten real candid information from the administration. It seems like they're just MIA on so many issues, but it causes more concern knowing how aggressive China has gotten. Look, help is on the way in just a few weeks when Donald Trump becomes President, but this is outrageous.” On the drones over New Jersey: “Well, they need to escape from [Governor Phil Murphy's] socialism, Larry. But I don't know if Santa's employed drones now to help them with the elves and the Reindeer. But look, I've had friends that we're going to go shoot the thing down ourselves. And by the way, they would. They'd be much more successful than the Biden administration. But it shouldn't come to this kind of ridiculousness where American citizens may actually do more than the federal government and Department of Defense. But this is our national security that's at risk. So it's not a joke and matter, and the administration seems to treat it that way.” On reconciliation discussions ahead of day one of Trump's presidency: “But look, I started talking to President Trump, as you and I mentioned, about this almost a year ago, talking about if we win the trifecta, get the House, Senate, and White House, what we could do to make sure we're on the same page starting in January, not making the mistakes of 2017, where we lost months being in disagreement, where we're all on the same page in January. President Trump was right there every step of the way. Obviously, he had some ideas of his own that we incorporated into what our first 100-day agenda will be. “So now we're at a point [where] we're having a lot of meetings to determine the actual mechanics of it. We're not in disagreement over what we're going to do. We're going to do great energy policy that you will love, border security, lowering food costs, rules and regulatory reform, as well as ensuring there's no massive tax increase, which means holding the line, locking in the Trump tax cuts, and then going further on some other things. We're in agreement on all of that. It's one bill versus two. We're having discussions about it because there are pros and cons on both approaches. Maybe only one approach has been out there in the public, but both approaches, we've got to remember, you go back to the last reconciliation in 2017 that created Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which you were such a great champion of and so involved in when you were in the White House. That second reconciliation bill started with a second budget. As you'll recall, 20 Republicans voted against that budget. We still got it over the finish line because we had a larger majority. We won't have the luxury of two Republicans voting against that budget if we're even going to be able to start the budget reconciliation. Those margins are really tight. That factors in as well.” On President Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: “It was caught. It won the game. It transformed America's economy. Look, middle and lower income families tremendously benefited from President Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. [Former Congressman] Kevin [Brady] was the author of the bill. He and I talked about it a lot, how it transformed this country, but also created new startups, women-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses that saw success like they've never seen before. Let's go create more opportunity and wealth for families, especially low and middle-income families who are struggling and there's so much uncertainty with so many of those tax cuts set to expire next year. Let's remove the uncertainty. Let's lock it in. Help spur more economic growth and more money, most importantly, in the pockets of hardworking families.” On Trump tax cuts: “As early as we can, it helps boost the economy. It'll give so much certainty to people that are really nervous, rightfully so. Kamala, we all know she wanted to raise taxes. President Trump wants to keep those rates low, but with a very, very tight margin, it's going to be on Congress, and we want to go deliver. Let's go get these big wins for the American people. Get them done early, and then move on and tackle more problems. There are a lot of problems to solve, but we can get a lot of them. Big, big reforms that will benefit hard work and families, lower inflation, secure our border, all in those first 100 days.” ### |