BUDGET/GOP/TAXES: “Senate Republicans are considering writing a budget that would allow for up to $1.5 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade, said people familiar with the discussions.
Budget talks are continuing and no final decision has been reached yet.
A budget that creates fiscal room for a $1.5 trillion tax cut, if adopted, would then be followed by a tax bill that would specify rate cuts and other policy changes that don’t exceed that figure. Calling for a tax cut in the budget would let Republicans lower tax rates while making fewer tough decisions on what tax breaks to eliminate to help pay for the cuts.
Republicans contend that some expiring tax cuts would have been extended anyway and that their plan would boost economic growth and generate revenue, reducing the actual impact on the deficit below whatever overall number they agree on. Still, they may need to make some of the tax cuts expire after 10 years, leaving decisions to a future Congress they may not control.
With this latest turn in budget talks, Republicans are gradually shifting away from an earlier stance some took in favor of a tax plan that fully paid for itself in the first decade. Budget Committee member Mike Crapo (R., Idaho) said on Monday that the tax cut should be ‘as big as we can get.’
The budget is an essential first step to the major tax bill Republicans want to pass this year. If the House and Senate agree on a budget, they can fast-track a tax bill through the Senate on a simple-majority vote through a process known as reconciliation, rather than seek a bigger 60-vote majority that would require support from Democrats.”
-Richard Rubin and Siobhan Hughes, “Senate Republicans Consider a Trillion-Dollar-Plus Tax Cut for Budget,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 18, 2017 10:20pm