Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters Monday that Republicans plan to tackle a tax overhaul in the spring of 2017.
The Senate will use the procedural process known as budget reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes to pass in the Senate, to undertake the tax overhaul. While Republicans will use the first budget resolution in January to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the second will be used in the spring to cut taxes.
“We will do one later in the spring, which will largely be dedicated to tax reform.” McConnell told reporters. “So they’ll be two, and they will set up reconciliation follow on vehicles for us to address two very important issues the President-elect talked about and we all care about. “
McConnell said that the single biggest reasons jobs move overseas is that the U.S. tax structure “makes it very difficult in many instances to stay here.”
McConnell’s comments give a strong indication of where the GOP’s priorities are at the moment with President-elect Trump. While House Republicans like HHS nominee Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) had hinted earlier this fall that a second budget reconciliation might include plans to overhaul Medicare. McConnell’s message appears to be that a tax overhaul will come before Medicare changes.
In the Senate, there has been far more appetite to take on a tax overhaul rather than change Medicare. Senate Republicans have tried to play down any interest in changing the elderly health care program.
McConnell also voiced skepticism that a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure bill was a good idea or use of the GOP’s time and resources, which could be a departure from Trump who has said infrastructure is a top priority.
Hopefully, Americans are prepared for the long recession that begins in the second half of 2017.
McConnell, when asked whether special Senate committee would investigate Russian election meddling Intel findings shouts “SQUIRREL”!
You’ve had years to come up with a plan[s] (Both health care and taxes) and you’re putting it off further down the road. That tells me you have nothing.
It’s not taxes that make it ‘difficult’ for corporations to stay here, it’s that pesky democracy thing where Americans actually have a legal right to demand that corporations not treat them as slaves. Eliminate that entire pesky democracy thing and multinational corporations will suddenly be very interested in hiring Americans again.
Also, as is always the case with these guys, “tax reform” is just their way of saying “wealth transfer.”
Somewhere in here they gotta trash the ACA and Medicare and Social Security to pay for at least a bit of the monstrous tax cuts coming for rich people.