Larry Kudlow, the economic adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and a Newsmax Finance Insider, says it’s “political suicide” to force a federal government shutdown in the debate over the debt ceiling.
The U.S. next month will reach its borrowing limit, stirring debate about how Congressional Democrats and Republicans will agree to keep the government’s financial wheels turning.
“There's no way that the Republican Party is not going to get the debt ceiling passed,” Kudlow told CNBC. “If Democrats want to run a filibuster, that will be a major political problem for them, poisoning the political water in every case.” A filibuster is an obstructive tactic in the U.S. Senate to prevent a vote.
Steven Mnuchin, who on Monday was appointed Treasury secretary, is now faced with handling the debt ceiling by March 16 to avoid a default on U.S. government obligations.
The national debt is likely to reach $20 trillion in the next few weeks after rising about 90 percent under the Obama administration.
Kudlow said the Trump administration needs to focus on tax reform.
“We need fiscal measures that will improve productivity,” he said. “Slash the business tax rates. That's just what the doctor ordered and productivity will start jumping within a year or two.”
Kudlow has urged Trump to boost U.S. economic growth by cutting business and income taxes, and eliminating onerous regulation.
“On the very day President Donald Trump’s incentive-based tax and regulatory policies are put in place, Barack Obama’s war on business will have officially come to an end,” he said in a post for Newsmax Finance.
“No longer will American companies be punished by uncompetitive rates of taxation and unnecessary rules and regulations.”