ICYMI: CfG’s McIntosh OpEd – Congress Must Extend & Expand Trump Tax Cuts

“Swap climate handouts for a tax code that rewards work, investment, and growth.”

In case you missed it, Club for Growth President David McIntosh published an oped in The Hill calling on Congress to extend an expand President Trump’s tax cuts in reconciliation and repeal major parts of President Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act. To arrange an interview, please contact Joe Kildea ([email protected]) to check availability.

Click here to read the oped.

EXCERPTS

The U.S. is on the brink of a tax nightmare, with Democrats pushing the largest tax increase in history.

President Trump’s signature legislation from his first term, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, is set to expire at the end of the year, and Democrats are united in their efforts to end this successful policy and implement an automatic  $4.5 trillion tax increase.

Republicans were elected up and down the ballot in 2024 with a mandate to end the lunacy of Bidenomics and make America competitive again. This means enacting bold tax reforms that go beyond simply extending the Trump tax cuts and — most importantly — preventing any tax hikes. Trump recently reminded Republicans that they cannot repeat the same mistakes that sank previous administrations. A tax increase of any kind would ruin any chance of success in 2026 for the Republicans as would failure to go beyond the tax cuts.

The tax cuts expire on Dec. 31. If Congress does nothing, an automatic $4.5 trillion Democratic tax hike will land squarely on working families, many of whom are already struggling under lingering Biden-era inflation. Less than a year from now, the average taxpayer could see a 22 percent tax hike. For a working family of four, that’s a $1,700 tax increase.

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Letting the Trump tax cuts expire would mean higher taxes on 40 million families and 26 million small businesses. Small businesses would face a 43 percent top tax rate and family farms would be hit with significantly higher estate tax liabilities. Millions would suddenly find themselves in higher tax brackets, even if their real wages haven’t increased. The ability of businesses to immediately deduct their short-term capital investments would continue to phase out.

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There’s a smarter path forward. Republicans, and Democrats claiming to be moderates,  can extend and expand the Trump tax cuts while at the same time repealing the most bloated, distortionary pieces of the Inflation Reduction Act. Swap climate handouts for a tax code that rewards work, investment, and growth. The result will be a stronger economy, more opportunity, and more revenue without raising the deficit or the tax burden on working Americans.

Voters gave Republicans a clear mandate to deliver on the economy. That begins by stopping the Democrat’s $4.5 trillion automatic tax hike and preserving the tax relief that has already proven to work. Trimming the Inflation Reduction Act’s most wasteful and damaging provisions along the way would only strengthen the deal.

Surrendering to tired Democratic talking points would be a failure of leadership and a betrayal of the very mandate Republicans were elected to uphold. The success of the 2017 tax cuts speaks for itself.

Voters across the country are watching. Now it’s time to stand firm for the hardworking Americans who sent Republicans to Washington to restore fiscal sanity in the United States.