Warren gives lukewarm response to Lindstrom jab
Bay State U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren vowed to “change” the GOP tax cuts she claims hands “giveaways to billionaires and giant corporations,” but stopped short of calling for a full repeal if Democrats win back Congress in 2018 — responding to jabs from GOP rival Beth Lindstrom.
“The Republicans have just crammed through a tax bill to give $1.4 trillion dollars in giveaways to billionaires and giant corporations — and they expect hardworking families across this country to pay for it,” said Warren, predicting 13 million people will be knocked off their health care coverage.
“I think that’s fundamentally wrong,” she said during a stop in Roxbury. “I don’t think that a single working person in this country should pay more in taxes in order to give breaks to billionaires and giant multinational corporations. And if I had a chance, I would change that.”
But asked if she’d be in favor of repealing the GOP tax cuts entirely if Democrats win a majority in Congress next year, Warren wouldn’t commit either way.
“I would change the tax bill that the Republicans have crammed through,” said Warren. “It’s just fundamentally wrong.”
Warren was asked about the tax cuts yesterday after the Herald reported Lindstrom, a former aide to Mitt Romney and campaign manager of Scott Brown’s winning Senate race who is vying to win the Republican primary to challenge Warren, released a video demanding Warren tell voters whether she’d support a hypothetical Democratic effort to repeal.
Lindstrom responded to Warren’s comments yesterday in a statement, trying to portray the progressive champion as more focused on her national image than on Massachusetts issues.
“Because of the tax cuts, 80 percent of Massachusetts residents will see smaller tax bills,” said Lindstrom. “Companies are already passing on their tax cut savings to workers by paying higher wages and bonuses. Despite this overwhelming evidence that tax cuts are working, Senator Warren will put a stop to all of it because her 2020 presidential aspirations are more important than helping Massachusetts families.”
Actually repealing the GOP tax cuts would be an uphill battle, even if Democrats won back both the House and Senate, because they’d likely need a twothirds majority to override an almost-certain Trump veto.
Nonetheless, Lindstrom hoped to tie down Warren early on in the campaign as out to destroy the tax cuts, perhaps banking on voters finding them popular as they’re rolled out.
Lindstrom is also looking for an advantage in a competitive GOP primary with Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl and Winchester businessman John Kingston.
Warren, meanwhile, has a commanding fundraising lead over the entire field with $12.8 million in the bank as of Sept. 30. The fundraising filing deadline for the end of 2017 is Jan. 31.
‘I would change the tax bill that the Republicans have crammed through. It’s just fundamentally wrong.’ — U.S. SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, stopping short of supporting a full repeal