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Brady on Fox News: Our economy is now returning to a pro-growth mode

October 29, 2018 — In Case You Missed It...    — Press Releases   

Maria Bartiromo: “I know that you have wanted to make the individual tax cuts permanent from the beginning.  Is that what this is or is this an additional tax cut?”

Chairman Brady: “Yeah, it’s even more. So it’s really about keeping the momentum going. Obviously, the economy is booming. We’re on track for the first total year over year plus-three percent economic growth in more than a decade. We’re seeing jobs coming back, paychecks going up, [and] Main Street is hiring again. The President is really focused on more of that economic growth. The House has passed 2.0 before we left for October, with 44 Democrat votes for this three-bill package. It’s now over in the Senate and I think permanence really depends on this election. If Republicans retain control of the House and the Senate, next year we will do reconciliation and make these tax cuts permanent. The President wants to go even farther — he’s really focused on the middle class. He believes they’re the ones who get squeezed the most. He’s asked us and we’ve worked with him on developing another 10 percent middle-class tax cut for workers and families. And so we’ll be ready to move with that as well.”

Maria Bartiromo: “The President sort of suggested that we were going to hear about this before the midterm elections. Obviously, there is nine days left and you’re out of session. You’re not going to be voting on this in the next nine days. But are you saying that you’re working on an additional 10 percent tax cut, perhaps to be announced and to be voted on after the midterm elections, sometime in the fourth quarter?” 

Chairman Brady: “Perhaps. But really what the President was referring to – and I wish some of his critics would have just simply asked – what he was talking about was when best do we introduce either the bill or a nonbinding resolution laying out our commitment, as Republicans, to doing that. Which we’ve talked about doing that sometime in the next month or so. But in truth, the lame duck is so unpredictable — that period between the election and the end of the Congress. And really, common sense tells you this is something that, as Republicans retain the House and Senate, that we’ll advance in the new Congress.”

Maria Bartiromo: “Let me ask you about your assessment of growth right now. We did get a GDP number out on Friday and it was growth of 3.5 percent. We know that your economic policies have triggered real growth and animal spirits.  We saw a 4.2 percent economic growth number in the second quarter. So, if we had 4.2% in the second quarter and 3.5% in the third quarter, should I surmise that things are slowing down? There is a narrative out there that growth is going to slow down — that’s why we’re seeing the markets so volatile.  How do you assess growth right now?”

Chairman Brady: “Look, when we’re retaining above that three percent growth, that’s just good news. President Obama never had a three percent growth year in both of his terms. So this is a welcome return to more of what America is capable of. We may not always maintain four percent growth, as you know, depending on the conditions. But, what I am pleased with, look, some of the headwinds we are seeing are because of growth. Interest rates are going up as the Fed normalizes — hopefully not too quickly. …We’re also seeing a challenge [with] hiring workers. So we’ve gone in a year from a country that asks ‘where are the jobs’ now it’s ‘where are the workers.’ And literally every business I’m talking to is holding projects back because they don’t have the labor force we need. Well, as Republicans we are going to elevate that workforce issue to perhaps our top economic issue going forward. So, look, some of the challenges we have in this economy is because our economy is now returning to a pro-growth mode.”

Maria Bartiromo: “Do you worry about a trillion-dollar deficit? The pushback on more tax cuts obviously is the debt––very quickly, sir.” 

Chairman Brady: “Yeah, I do.  But we were not seeing…deficits over the long haul because of the tax code.  It’s because of spending. And in fact, Maria, the difference between the Obama less than two percent growth and the Trump greater than three percent growth––that’s an additional 44 trillion dollars for the federal revenue.  Spending is the problem.”