The Trump administration initially was ridiculed when it suggested the United States could get to three percent growth, but growth is already ahead of schedule, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Tuesday.
"We didn't think we could do it until 2020," Mulvaney told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
"We're there ahead of schedule. Not only was it not crazy, we actually underestimated the potential of the American economy, which of course people have been doing for generations. . . we've been pleased with what the president has been able to accomplish."
He also dismissed the notion that the improvements are a "one-shot deal," but rather a "structural change in the economy for the better."
Meanwhile, Mulvaney said he is not worried about speculation about what will happen to the tax cut legislation passed this past December, and if it comes under assault, "that's what the veto is for."
"What worries me more is if the Democrats take the House, the progress will stop," said Mulvaney. "We won't be able to do the types of things we want to do to infrastructure."
In addition, there will likely be "less of a chance" to pass the next part of the tax cuts President Donald Trump talks about, said Mulvaney.
"The Democrats, some of them don't believe it's real, but a lot of them don't want it to be real," said Mulvaney. "We could reduce taxes, we reduce regulation, we increase energy Independence and the economy does well.
"All these people in this room get wealthier, [so] there's a lot of Democrats who don't have anything to sell after that. So, they need it to fail. And that's what worries me if the Democrats take the House."
There are also many who have voiced concerns about the national $1.2 trillion deficit, but reports indicate that 30 percent of that has already been made up in GDP growth, noted Mulvaney.
"'What folks, i think, have overlooked is even according to the Congressional Budget Office estimates, which we believe are low, the economy at the end of that window is $6 trillion bigger than it would have been without our tax proposal," said Mulvaney.
He also discussed conversations he's had with House Speaker Paul Ryan over the deficit and taxes, including what to do about the growth of entitlement spending.
"Paul and I have had this conversation," said Mulvaney. "The entitlements are real. They are one of the long-term drivers of the debt. There is no question and money is money, whether we spend a dollar we don't have on Medicaid. . . Right now the deficit is driven as much by discretionary spending as it is by entitlement.
"We can't use that as an excuse. The spending is the issue. It's not just entitlement spending it's all spending. We cannot sit there and say until we fix entitlements, we're never going to fix the problem."
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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