The biggest obstacle to getting tax reform passed is that there aren't any Democratic lawmakers looking to provide tax and corporate relief, White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short said Monday.
"At the end of the day, the tax package is focused on middle income families, those earning $70,000 will get over $2,000 tax relief and it will help bring jobs back to America," Short told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program.
"We hope that many Democrat senators, particularly those in the upper Midwest with so many companies fleeing their states and moving overseas would want to be part of this tax relief for their citizens."
A budget committee vote likely will take place in the Senate Budget Committee on its tax review bill, said Short, with a floor vote possible by the end of the week.
"At this point, sausage making is never fun, but all senators are trying to get to yes on the Republican side," Short said. "We're disappointed we don't have Democrat members looking to provide tax relief and corporate relief. That's our biggest obstacle."
The Trump administration has put forth a budget that's balanced in 10 years, but the government won't be able to fund the things the United States needs unless there is economic growth, said Short.
"If we're growing at 1.8 percent as we did during the Obama years, we will never be able to fund the military needs of this country," he said. "Therefore, we need to get this economy growing again...we think we can with the right tax relief. The way to get the deficits under control and pay for the things we need is to get the economy growing again."
The debate is going on over many concerns with the bill, but the White House has not dropped its push to have Obamacare mandate repeal as part of it.
"Keep in mind the individual mandate was one of the most insidious parts of Obamacare," said Short, noting that "it's appropriate" to include it in tax reform.
"Over 80 percent of the families paying the individual mandate tax penalty earn less than $50,000," he said. "Those who are most impacted are middle income families in the country."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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