House Speaker Paul Ryan says the main goal of Republicans' effort to overhaul the nation's tax code is to give the middle class a tax break — but he won’t guarantee everyone will get one.
In an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” aired Sunday, the Wisconsin Republican said the latest plan aims to “help the people who are working paycheck to paycheck and keep more of their own hard-earned dollars."
"They haven't had a break in a long time," he said. "Our economy's been growing between 1 and 2 percent for a long time. We haven't had 3 percent growth in about a decade, and that means workers are struggling."
But he wouldn’t guarantee everyone in the middle class would get a cut when pressed on the issue.
"Well, I don't know every single person's little, small problem or issue,” he said. “Do you have kids? Because there's going to be a bigger child tax credit. Are you married? You're going to have zero marriage penalty."
He also told host John Dickerson that he’d had “some candid conversations’ with President Donald Trump’s on his much-criticized response to violence in Charlottesville, Va.
“So I do really believe his heart's in the right place,” he said. “I think what matters is that we have to show people that we are an inclusive society, that we want everyone to succeed.”
He also urged “separate conversations” on the controversy over athletes who take the knee during the singing of the national anthem in protest of racial injustice.
“What so many Americans, I see this at home, see is you're disrespecting the idea of America, that we want to make this free country a more perfect union and that people have died and fought and survived to protect it,” he said.
“So they don't see the point that they're trying to make... we should just have separate and distinct conversations. Because when you merge it into the flag and the anthem, it's lost."
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