Audience laughs at Rep. Steve Knight after he says the economy is 'explosive' thanks to GOP tax cuts
Audience laughs at Rep. Steve Knight after he says the economy is ‘explosive’ thanks to GOP tax cuts
Rep. Knight said the tax plan is good news for the economy but he didn't look closely at the numbers.
Casey Quinlan
Oct 26, 2018, 8:59 am
SIMI VALLEY, CA — Republicans passed a sweeping tax bill last year that mainly benefited wealthy individuals and corporations, but that hasn’t stopped Rep. Steve Knight (R-CA) from arguing it deeply changed the economy to benefit everyone.
In a debate on Thursday night with his Democratic opponent, Katie Hill, Knight said the economy was “explosive” thanks to the tax bill passed last year. His statements ignore the reality of the bill he voted for, as well as many important details about the economy and people’s quality of life in the U.S.
The event’s moderator, David Maron, asked the candidates about their views on tax cuts.
Hill said the recent tax cuts put a burden on the middle class and “We’re paying for those tax cuts on the backs of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs that are vital for us in future.”
Knight responded, “When the tax cut plan came forward, it was for the middle and lower income. That was exactly what happened.”
Belly laughs and a few gasps reverberated throughout the auditorium in response.
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There also isn’t reason to believe that the tax bill would have been responsible for any improvements to the average American’s quality of life in the long term. Although Republicans have argued that the bill would bring earnings home through “repatriation” of the overseas profits from U.S. corporations, those earnings are already in the financial system. And in 2027, there will be a tax increase that more than half of all Americans will have to reckon with while wealthier Americans chiefly benefit from the law. Meanwhile, Republican members of Congress are looking to slash Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to make up for the growing deficit their tax cuts created.
“We’re not hearing that the economy is not working for everyone,” said Hill, who is the executive director of the nonprofit People Assisting The Homeless. “The stock market is not the economy.”
more...
https://thinkprogress.org/audience-laughs-at-rep-steve-knight-after-he-says-the-economy-is-explosive-thanks-to-gop-tax-cuts-15ed400f474d/
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