White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus defended President Donald Trump's tax proposal on Wednesday, saying it would keep jobs from going overseas and improve the American way of life.
The proposal would slash corporate taxes from their current 35 percent rate to 15 percent. Priebus, appearing on Fox News Channel's "Special Report," told anchor Bret Baier, "Companies are not going to have to leave our country anymore, and they'll make more money."
As a result, he added, "People across the country and my neighbors in Kenosha, Wisconsin can put more money in their pocket, which means they're going to be able to provide a better future for their kids, they're going to be able to retire like normal people, like the way things used to be in this country, and live a life of dignity."
Priebus admitted the plan was short on details, but said the idea was to outline the basic structure, then "bring it to the American people and the halls of Congress to make it better and to fill in the details."
Personal filers would see the current seven tax rates cut to three, with the top rate reduced from 39.6 percent to 35 percent. Most deductions would be cut, but the standard deduction would be almost doubled.
Priebus said the proposal is a work-in-progress and that input from Congress and the public would make the bill "something that the American people will universally — or as much as you can get to universal praise — be happy about it."
On the GOP healthcare amendment that would allow states to request waivers to the current Affordable Care Act, Priebus was opimistic.
"We're hopeful there may be a vote soon," he said, but added the administration has learned its lesson on creating artificial deadlines after the last healthcare effort.
Priebus shot down speculation that Trump is looking at an executive order to get the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Instead, he said, the White House is looking at "different legal hurdles that you have to satisfy before you actually either renegotiate or withdraw from NAFTA. … So we're talking about steps prior to withdrawal that have to take place that the president has been talking about."
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