Thune: Democrats Want to Raise Taxes … And That’s No Joke
“[W]e are hopeful that this week we can get a budget resolution on the floor that will unlock the process that’ll enable us to achieve and to reach those goals, and so we are continuing to move forward with that.”
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership:
Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):
“Good afternoon, everybody.
“Republicans continue to have very productive conversations on how to achieve our agenda, and working with President Trump on making sure that we are rebuilding our military, unleashing American energy dominance, making sure that there isn’t a $4.5 trillion tax increase on the American people at the end of this year, and obviously securing our border.
“Those are the priorities that we believe need to be addressed and those are the discussions that we’ve been having in our conference about the best way to achieve that.
“Obviously, we are hopeful that this week we can get a budget resolution on the floor that will unlock the process that’ll enable us to achieve and to reach those goals, and so we are continuing to move forward with that.
“And of course, we expect the Democrats to resist us at every turn, but unfortunately for them, when they talk about fighting and fighting and fighting, what they are fighting, obviously, against – or for, I should say – is a $4.5 trillion tax increase on the American people at the end of the year.
“That's what’s at stake in this discussion.
“And what that means, if you put it into kind of just everyday terms, there are literally – of those who make less than $400,000 a year, there would be a $2.6 trillion tax increase on those wage earners and a $600 billion tax increase on small businesses.
“That’s what’s at stake in this conversation.
“So say, for example, if you’re a, you know, working family in this country with kids, if we don’t extend the existing tax relief by the end of this year, then you will see the child tax credit go from a $2,000 child tax credit to $1,000 child tax credit.
“So every family in this country who has children would face, per child, a $1,000 tax increase.
“And if you look at the standard deduction, now 91 percent of the people in this country claim the standard deduction.
“Well, if we don’t take action by the end of this year to extend the existing tax policy, you would see that standard deduction cut almost in half, so from about $30,000 to about half that – again, hitting middle income families.
“That’s what we are talking about, and that’s what we are doing in this process, is working on an agenda that will be good for the American people, will bring down the cost of energy, that will allow them to keep more of what they earn, that will keep the country safe and secure for future generations, and make sure that our southern border is secure – and so all the associated problems that we’ve had for the past four years in the Biden administration are done away with.
“This president has made huge progress on that front already.
“We want to be good partners in working with him to achieve these objectives on behalf of the American people.”
Related Issues: Homeland Security, Budget, Border Security, Energy
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