Republican Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne said Tuesday evening on Fox Business that lawmakers’ reconciliation bill will be “key” to preventing “one of the largest tax increases” Americans could face.
During President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, the former president promised to address economic issues as Americans expressed concerns about the economy under President Joe Biden. On “Kudlow,” guest host David Asman questioned the Republican lawmaker on whether Congress would address the issue, saying that while the Federal Reserve has tried to lower interest rates, Americans are still seeking “money in their pockets.”
Van Duyne said she agreed 100%.
“We’ve been trying to push to have one reconciliation bill to make sure that those tax cuts get extended and that tax bill gets passed,” Van Duyne said. “You know, when I hear some of my Democrat colleagues talk about, ‘Oh, it’s just the rich, it’s just the billionaires.’”
“I need them to understand it’s 90% of American taxpayers. If these cuts are not extended, [they] will feel one of the largest tax increases in American history, 90% of American taxpayers. So I don’t know how many people they think are billionaires, how many people they think are the rich, how they define it,” Van Duyne added. “But they need to understand it’s a very large portion of their constituents that are feeling it.”
The Fed announced on Dec. 18 that it was lowering its rates to a target range of 4.25% to 4.50%, following a 0.3% month-over-month increase and a year-over-year rise of 2.7% in the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of the price of everyday goods.
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Duyne went on to say that small businesses could benefit from tax cuts by being able to “invest in their employees,” highlighting how the reconciliation measure will be necessary to help grow America’s economy.
“To your point earlier, when you were saying how much the increase is in revenue, we can show when you give these small businesses like 23 million small businesses tax cuts, they actually invest in their employees. They invest in the future of their business, and they grow,” Van Duyne said.
“What that results in is higher revenues for the government, not lower. But it also represents opportunities for everyday Americans to start businesses and to be able to thrive with job opportunities. This is exactly what we should be focused on,” Van Duyne said. “That reconciliation bill will be key in making sure that our American economy grows, but sustains.”
Pundits like Fox Business host Charles Payne have criticized the Fed’s recent move, saying the central bank made “mistakes.” A recent survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that roughly seven in 10 U.S. adults rate the country’s economic state as very or somewhat poor, with self-identified Democrats largely “driving the recent negativity.”
Congress set the stage for the new year after it erupted into chaos on Dec. 17 over Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s 1,574-page original continuing resolution (CR). The CR was filled with provisions that critics say could have wasted hundreds of billions of dollars. While congressional lawmakers eventually passed a revised version of the CR after two rounds of votes, some Republican lawmakers have questioned their support for Johnson as his reelection for House Speaker looms closer.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Fox Business/”Kudlow”)
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