REPUBLICAN TAX CUTS 2.0

Voting 220 for and 191 against, the House on Sept. 28 passed a bill (HR 6760) that would make permanent several key elements of the 2017 GOP tax-cut law that would otherwise expire after 2025. The provisions include the law`s tax rates for individuals, increased standard deduction, expanded child tax credit, caps on deductions of state and local tax payments and increased deductions for pass-through entities such as limited-liability and S corporations. The legislation would cost the Treasury $631 billion in foregone revenue over its first 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. That would be on top of more than $1.5 trillion in new debt over 10 years attributable to the 2017 round of individual and business cuts.

Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said that because of the 2017 tax cuts, “a new energy abounded in this country, and it is called optimism and opportunity and success and redevelopment of ideas to bring the American spirit back to the top.And that is how you save Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, by working today and protecting American jobs.”

Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said Republicans “claim that they want to protect Medicare and Social Security. But don`t believe them. Don`t be fooled. Right after their (2017) tax law exploded the deficit, what did the president`s chief economic adviser do? He called for new cuts to Medicare and Social Security.”

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate. ARKANSAS

Voting yes: Bruce Westerman (R-4)

TEXAS

Voting yes: Louis Gohmert (R-1), John Ratcliffe (R-4)