Budget Will Rein In Federal Spending And Help Economy Grow
‘I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues in Congress and the administration to pass a responsible budget and to deliver tax reform for the American workers and families who deserve an economy that reaches its true potential once again.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the budget for Fiscal Year 2018 and tax reform:
“The Senate, as I said yesterday, has a full schedule of work before it this fall. It’s what the president, vice president, and I discussed at our working lunch down at the White House yesterday. This week, the Senate is advancing one of the most important items on our agenda with consideration of the comprehensive budget for Fiscal Year 2018. It’s a good budget that reflects the hard work of Chairman Enzi and the Budget Committee. It will help rein in federal spending. It will help our country achieve balance. It will also help our economy grow.
“One of the ways this budget will do so is by providing legislative tools to advance tax reform. After a lost decade of missed economic opportunities, America’s middle class deserves an economy that reaches for its full potential again — and tax reform is the single most important thing we can do today to get there. It’s not hard to see why. Our current tax code is archaic, it’s arduous, and it’s often bizarre. It holds our economy back and it can hold workers’ wages down. It actually incentivizes companies to ship jobs and profits overseas. And it makes it easier for the wealthy and well-connected to game the system, yet is almost impossible for anyone else to understand.
“A constituent from Harrodsburg, Kentucky wrote to my office, exasperated about the unfair tax code. ‘I am writing today to express my complete and total disgust for the complex, completely unfair, and completely messed up tax system in this country,’ she wrote. This constituent, who has worked for nearly three decades as a CPA and has helped countless Kentuckians navigate the system, described some of the hardships faced by her clients and then continued by saying that ‘the honest, hardworking folks can't get ahead, the cheaters don't get caught and the rich just keep getting richer.’
“Her story underlines systemic problems of our tax code, and it is often our nation’s workers – including those in Kentucky – who continue to bear the burden. Recently, the Kentucky State Treasurer wrote an op-ed calling on Congress to provide much-needed relief from our tax code. ‘We need tax reform,’ she wrote, ‘to increase Kentucky’s economic growth and for greater middle-class prosperity throughout the Commonwealth.’ I agree. So does President Trump, his team, and many of my colleagues in Congress.
“We are all in agreement that delivering relief to working families should be at the heart of our plan — and that is what we continue to work toward in developing tax reform. For families and individuals in Kentucky and across the nation, we think taxes should be lower, simpler, and fairer. Our plan calls for doubling the standard deduction and significantly increasing the child tax credit. We’ll eliminate loopholes that are primarily used by the wealthy while protecting incentives that benefit the middle class.
“Our plan also reforms the tax code to provide relief to our nation’s small businesses and make it easier to keep jobs in America. In an increasingly competitive global economy, we are working to put American workers on a level playing field. Above all, our goal is this: we want to take more money out of Washington’s pockets and put more into the pockets of the middle class — in Kentucky, and across our country.
“This sounds like a place where we should all be able to agree —Republicans and Democrats alike. In fact, our friends on the other side of the aisle have often supported the idea of tax reform and bringing jobs back to America. I hope they will again in the course of this important effort. I hope they won’t fall into blind partisanship and reject any collaboration, simply because they don’t like the president.
“Instead, they can work with us in a serious way on an overhaul of the tax code that can truly help the people of Kentucky, help the people of their states, and help Americans across the country. I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues in Congress and the administration to pass a responsible budget and to deliver tax reform for the American workers and families who deserve an economy that reaches its true potential once again.”
Related Issues: Economy, Taxes, Budget
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