Failure to Act Could Trigger the Largest Tax Hike in U.S. History, Warns Congressman Simpson
Congressman Mike Simpson emphasizes the critical importance of renewing the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts, warning that if they are not extended, it could cost each Idaho tax filer around $2,647 annually. They assert that failure to act would amount to the largest tax increase in American history and could severely harm the economy. Republicans are working to pass this through a reconciliation bill, with committees tasked with identifying savings to fund the extension. Additional tax relief provisions may include eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security income.
Congressman responds to criticism that tax cuts worsen the deficit by arguing that economic growth is the most effective path to reducing it. They believe that cutting taxes and regulations allows consumers to spend more, thus stimulating the economy and increasing government revenues. It is also stressed that both tax reform and spending cuts are necessary to improve the fiscal situation.
In response to recent economic reports, Congressman expresses optimism, pointing to encouraging job growth and improving economic indicators. While acknowledging a short-term period of economic uncertainty, they maintain confidence that current policies will lead to a stronger, more robust economy in the long run.
Transcript
Chuck Warren: Let me switch to taxes. So what happens... If we do not expand the 2017 tax cuts, for example, it's said that if this does not get renewed, Idaho,it will cost $2,647 per tax filer every year in Idaho if we don't renew them. Go ahead.
Mike Simpson: It would be the biggest tax increase in American history, and it would devastate our economy, frankly.
Chuck Warren: So what's the delay?
Mike Simpson: Yeah. uh trying to get it done everybody always wants to i mean this is kind of a bill that all republicans want to get past uh the reconciliation bill right now they're negotiating the the each committee has been given directions on how much they have to save or whatever in in this thing uh to extort to extend uh the trump tax cuts so that's what they're doing and there will probably be some other provisions in there like no taxes on tips no taxes on Social Security, that type of thing. But it's vitally important to our economy. And people will say, you know, if you're trying to address the budget deficit, why would you be talking about tax cuts? Because the best way to address the budget deficit is to get the economy growing again. That will bring in more revenue than anything that we do in terms of spending cuts and stuff. So we've got to do all of that. We've got to do the spending cuts. We've got to do the tax, reform the tax code or extend the tax codes, Trump tax cuts. And that will help our economy. And I think you'll see things come out. I think you'll see them start to start to turn around in the next few months.
Sam Stone: Congressman, we have only two minutes left. I want to follow up one thing on that really quickly. We just had an economic report came out. Wall Street reacted very badly initially, but then kind of turned around. Democrats are crowing about the top line number of reduced growth, but the underlying numbers are getting stronger in a hurry, actually.
Mike Simpson: Yes, they are. If you look at the job growth that came out today, I thought it was a very encouraging report. In fact, it's your building on the growth that we've had in the last couple of months. And I think the reports that are coming in are very, very optimistic about what's going to happen with our economy.
And my big thing is, you know, there's two ways I guess you could look at trying to balance the budget. One is just by raising taxes and raising taxes and raising taxes. We can't raise taxes enough to address our budget deficit. You've got to get the economy growing. And that's what we're trying to do.
And you get the economy growing by reducing rules and regulations and all that kind of stuff. And also by letting consumers keep more of their money so that they spend it and that grows the economy. And you'll get more revenue in from that than anything else. So I'm very encouraged by the economic numbers that are coming out.
But like I said earlier, there's going to be a time, a period of a few months where it's a little painful and people wonder what the hell is going on. Well, I think everything is going exactly as we anticipated. And that in the long run, this economy is going to be great, is going to be much stronger than it otherwise would be.
Sam Stone: Absolutely. Thank you, Congressman Simpson. We love having you on the program. Look forward to having you back here again in the near future, folks.
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