[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 198 (Tuesday, December 5, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7832-S7834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Tax Cuts and Jobs Bill
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, relief for American families is on the way.
Last week, the Senate passed our version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs
Act, a tax reform bill that will provide immediate, direct relief to
hard-working Americans.
Our legislation doubles the standard deduction, it doubles the child
tax credit, and it lowers rates. Under our bill, a family of four
making $73,000 a year will see a $2,200 tax cut, or a reduction in
taxes of about 60 percent over what they are paying under current law.
A single parent with one child making $41,000 will see his or her taxes
drop from around $1,865 today to just $488 under our bill, a reduction
of nearly 75 percent over what they are paying today.
That is just the beginning. The tax bill before us today is going to
provide immediate relief to hard-working families. It is going to
immediately lower their tax bills. It is going to immediately mean more
money in their pockets.
But this bill is about much more than that. This bill isn't just
about helping Americans today--although it is most certainly going to
do that--the bill is about helping Americans for the long term. It is
about giving Americans access to the kinds of wages, jobs, and
opportunities that will set them up for a secure and prosperous future.
The way we do that is by improving the playing field for American
businesses. In order for individual Americans to thrive economically,
we need American businesses to thrive. Thriving businesses create jobs,
they provide opportunities, and they increase wages and invest in their
workers.
But our current Tax Code hasn't been helping businesses thrive. For
years now, our tax laws have left businesses of all sizes struggling
under the burden of high tax rates and an outdated tax system that has
left American businesses at a disadvantage in the global economy.
Small businesses employ nearly half of American workers and create a
majority of the new jobs in this country. But right now, small
businesses face high tax rates that can make it difficult for these
businesses to even survive, much less thrive and expand their
operations. Our bill will fix this.
To start with, our bill implements a new deduction for passthrough
businesses like partnerships, LLCs, and S corporations. This deduction
will allow them to keep more of their money, which will allow them to
reinvest in their operations, increase wages, and hire new workers.
Our bill also reforms current provisions in the Tax Code that
frequently leave small businesses with very little cash on hand. Under
our legislation, small businesses will be able to recover the capital
they have invested in things like inventory and machinery much more
quickly and, in certain cases, immediately. This, in turn, will free up
capital that small businesses can use to expand and to create jobs.
Our legislation also includes provisions that I helped develop that
will simplify accounting rules for small businesses, which will also
help reduce their tax burden, leaving more of their earnings to
reinvest in their businesses and their workers.
In addition to providing relief to small businesses, another thing
our bill will do to boost Americans' wages is lower our massive
corporate tax rate. Our Nation's corporate tax rate today is the
highest in the industrialized world, which puts the United States at a
major disadvantage next to our international competitors. Reducing the
corporate tax rate will enable American businesses to compete on a more
level playing field, which will, in turn, free up money that U.S.
businesses can use to create jobs and increase wages.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that reducing
the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, as our bill does, will increase
wages for U.S. households by $4,000 annually. That is money that
families can use to save for retirement, help pay for a child's
education, replace an aging vehicle, or invest in a new home.
Our bill will also boost wages and increase opportunities for
Americans by ending the outdated tax framework that is driving American
companies to keep jobs and profits overseas. Our Nation currently
operates under a so-called worldwide tax system. That means that
American companies pay U.S. taxes on the profits they make here at
home, as well as on part of the profits they make abroad once they
bring that money back to the United States. The problem with this is
that American companies are already paying taxes to foreign governments
on the money they make abroad. Then, when they bring that money home,
they could end up having to pay taxes again on part of those profits
and at the highest tax rate in the industrialized world. It is no
surprise that this
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discourages businesses from bringing their profits back to the United
States to invest in their domestic operations and new jobs and
increased wages.
Our bill replaces our outdated worldwide tax system with a
territorial tax system. Under our legislation, American companies will
no longer face the double taxation that has encouraged them to send
their investments and their operations overseas. Instead, U.S.
companies will have a strong incentive to invest their profits at home
in American jobs and in American workers.
All in all, the Tax Foundation estimates that in addition to
increasing wages, our bill will create nearly 1 million new jobs for
American workers and boost the size of the economy by 3.7 percent.
I don't need to tell anybody that American families have had a tough
time in recent years or that our economy as a whole has stagnated, with
weak economic growth, almost nonexistent wage growth, and a lack of
opportunity that has become the norm for way too many families. But
this tax bill marks the beginning of the end of the Obama-era economy.
The tax bill we just passed will usher in a new era of dynamism in
this country. It will let Americans keep more of their earnings right
now, and it will improve Americans' economic situation for the long
term. It will send a message to the world that America is serious about
competing and succeeding and winning in the 21st century economy.
Under this bill, American companies will compete and win globally,
and American businesses, large and small, and the American people will
thrive as a result.
I look forward to going to conference with the House of
Representatives and getting a final, comprehensive tax reform bill to
the President. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity--literally, a
once-in-a-lifetime chance--to make a real difference in the lives of
literally millions of Americans. It is time to get this bill across the
finish line. It can't happen soon enough for the American people.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, President Trump and the Republican
leadership, as we just heard, are talking every day on television, at
news conferences, telling the American people how this tax bill that
was passed here at 2 o'clock in the morning on Saturday--without any
hearings, with no serious debate--how this tax bill is designed to help
the middle class and how it was written for the middle class.
Unfortunately, I suspect that I will not shock too many Americans by
suggesting that what President Trump has been saying is not truthful.
This legislation, according to numerous independent studies, will
provide 62 percent of the benefits to the top 1 percent--62 percent of
the benefits will go to the top 1 percent--while increasing taxes on 83
million middle-class households by the end of the decade. Why? The
reason is that the tax cuts for middle-class families expire by the end
of 2025, while the tax breaks for large corporations are made
permanent.
We are living in a moment in American history where we have an
unprecedented level of income and wealth inequality, where the top one-
tenth of 1 percent now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90
percent, where the top 1 percent owns almost twice as much wealth as
the bottom 90 percent, and, if you can believe it, where three of the
wealthiest people in this country--Mr. Gates, Mr. Bezos, and Mr.
Buffett--three people own more wealth than the bottom half of the
American population. That is where we are right now.
Yet, in the midst of this incredible level of income and wealth
inequality, my Republican colleagues believe that this is a moment when
62 percent of the benefits of so-called tax reform should go to the top
1 percent and 42 percent of the benefits should go to the top one-tenth
of 1 percent, while at the same time tens of millions of middle-class
families will end up paying more in taxes. How crazy is that? So we
have a situation in which the wealthy, who need tax breaks the least,
will benefit the most, and the working class and middle class of this
country, who need the most help, will benefit the least.
The President of the United States and my Republican colleagues tell
the American people that trickle-down economics--giving huge tax breaks
to the wealthy and large corporations--will expand the economy. We just
heard Senator Thune talking about that. They will create new jobs and
will bring in so much revenue that it will pay for the deficit it
creates.
Every independent expert who has taken a look at this tax bill has
said it will substantially increase the deficit, even after accounting
for the possibility of increased economic growth. The Joint Committee
on Taxation has told us that this bill will increase the deficit by
$1.4 trillion over the next decade. Why is that important?
First of all, it shows, if I may say, the hypocrisy of my Republican
colleagues who, year after year after year on this floor, lectured us
about the dangers of a $20 trillion national debt and growing deficits.
We heard this time and time again. But somehow, when it comes to the
need to provide tax breaks to billionaires, that concern about the
deficit seems to have disappeared.
Secondly and more immediately, there is no doubt in my mind that if
the Republicans are able to pass this bill, which will soon go to a
conference committee--this bill that gives huge tax breaks to the top 1
percent and raises the deficit by $1.4 trillion--there is no doubt in
my mind that they will suddenly rediscover their great concern about
deficits and the debt and move directly within the next few months to
begin the process of cutting programs desperately needed by the working
families of this country--the elderly, the children, the sick, and the
poor.
This is not just Bernie Sanders speculating. This is what the New
York Times said in a front-page article a few days ago:
As the tax cut legislation passed by the Senate early
Saturday hurtles toward final approval, Republicans are
preparing to use the swelling deficits made worse by the
package as a rationale to pursue their long-held vision:
undoing the entitlements of the New Deal and Great Society,
leaving government leaner and the safety net skimpier for
millions of Americans.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan and other Republicans are beginning to
express their big dreams publicly, vowing that next year they
will move on to changes in Medicare and Social Security.
President Trump told a Missouri rally last week, `We're going
to go into welfare reform.'
Let me take this opportunity to translate into English what phrases
like ``entitlement reform'' or ``welfare reform'' really mean. What
they mean in reality are massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare,
Medicaid, education, nutrition programs, affordable housing, and other
programs desperately needed by a declining middle class. It means that
after they pass this so-called tax reform bill, which would provide a
$200,000 tax break to CEOs who make over $16 million a year, they will
come back to the floor of the Senate and fight for cuts to Social
Security for senior citizens trying to survive on $12,000 or $13,000 a
year. So there are massive cuts for millionaires and billionaires in
their taxes at the same time as they want to cut Social Security,
Medicare, and Medicaid for struggling seniors.
``Entitlement reform'' means that at a time when millions of seniors
are splitting their pills in half because they cannot afford the
outrageously high cost of prescription drugs, Republicans want massive
cuts to Medicare. It means that when two out of every three nursing
home residents in this country rely on Medicaid to pay for their long-
term care, the Republicans want to make massive cuts to Medicaid.
We do not know exactly what form these cuts will take. I think that
is not yet clear. There has been discussion among Republicans about
raising the retirement age for Social Security to 70 years of age,
forcing older workers to work years more before they can get their
earned retirement benefits.
Maybe they will cut back on cost-of-living increases through a so-
called Chained CPI--a new formulation that means lower benefits not
only for seniors but for millions of disabled veterans. They apparently
believe, for those of you on Social Security now, that the COLAs you
have been getting in recent years are just too high. That zero percent
increase you got a couple years ago? It is much too high; we have
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to change the formula and lower benefit increases.
Maybe they will go back to their long-term dream of privatizing
Medicare and converting it into a voucher program, which will say to
the elderly in this country: Here is a check for $8,000. You go out and
find private insurance on your own. I would say good luck to any
elderly person in this country who is struggling with heart disease or
cancer. You see what kind of insurance program you are going to get
with a check for $8,000.
I would remind my colleagues that many of these proposals were
included in the budget resolution the Republicans voted for right here
on the floor of the Senate. This is not speculation; these are issues
and items that Republicans already voted for. They already voted for a
$1 trillion cut to Medicaid, which would throw some 15 million
Americans off of health insurance. They have already voted in the
budget to cut Medicare by $473 billion. In my view, the last thing we
should be doing is giving tax breaks to billionaires while cutting
programs for the most vulnerable people in our country.
During the campaign, Donald Trump, as a candidate, promised he would
not cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He made that promise
over and over again. I have some charts. Let me quote some of the
tweets and some of the things Donald Trump said on the campaign trail.
This is what he said: ``I was the first & only potential GOP
candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare &
Medicaid.''
On another occasion, he said:
I'm not a cutter. I'll probably be the only Republican that
doesn't want to cut Social Security.
That was January 24, 2015.
It's my absolute intention to leave Social Security the way
it is. Not increase the age and to leave it as is.
That was Donald Trump on March 10, 2016.
Here is another quote:
You know, Paul [Ryan] wants to knock out Social Security,
knock it down, way down. He wants to knock Medicare way down.
And, frankly--well, two things. Number one, you're going to
lose the election if you're going to do that. . . . Now, I
want to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. I want to do a
lot of things to it that are going to make it much better,
actually. But I'm not going to cut it, and I'm not going to
raise ages, and I'm not going to do all of the things that
they want to do. But they want to really cut it, and they
want to cut it very substantially, the Republicans, and I'm
not going to do that.
Before I go on to the next quote, I want to tell Donald Trump that,
as a candidate, man, he was exactly right. This is what he said on
March 29, 2016. He said that the Republicans wanted to cut Social
Security and Medicare and Medicaid.
Well, Candidate Trump, you were exactly right, because that is now
what we will see in a few weeks or a few months.
Another quote from Donald Trump as a candidate:
Social Security faces a problem: 77 million baby boomers
set to retire. Now, I know there are some Republicans who
would be just fine with allowing these programs to wither and
die on the vine. The way they see it, Social Security and
Medicare are wasteful `entitlement programs.' But people who
think this way need to rethink their position. It's not
unreasonable for people who paid into a system for decades to
expect to get their money's worth--that's not an
`entitlement,' that's honoring a deal.
Well, there it is. Candidate Donald Trump said over and over again
that he would not cut Social Security, that he would not cut Medicare,
that he would not cut Medicaid. In fact, quite correctly, he predicted
that the Republicans would try to do exactly that.
Now I would like to talk directly, if I might, to the President of
the United States.
Mr. President, on the campaign trail, over and over again, you said
that you would not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. Today, I
am asking you nothing more than to keep your word. Don't lie to the
American people.
Millions of people voted for you because you said you would not cut
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Keep your word. Tell Senate
Leader McConnell and tell House Speaker Paul Ryan that you will veto
any legislation that cuts these programs.
With that, I yield the floor.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cruz). The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that
notwithstanding rule XXII, the postcloture time on Executive Calendar
No. 495 expire at 4 p.m. today, December 5; and that if confirmed, the
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the
President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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