Speaking at town hall, Luján calls Trump ‘racist,’ says New Mexico residents will suffer ‘direct hits’ under new tax law
Congressman blasts GOP tax law, saying New Mexicans will see ‘direct hits’
At a town hall meeting Saturday in Santa Fe billed as a discussion on the Republican tax overhaul and its likely effects in New Mexico, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján joined the chorus of people nationwide condemning the president’s recent vulgar comments as racist and even went further — saying Donald Trump is a racist.
Asked during a question-and-answer session at the Santa Fe Higher Education Center about the uproar over Trump’s derogatory descriptions of certain African nations, as well as Haiti and El Salvador, and their citizens who immigrate to the United States, Luján’s answer was unequivocal.
“I think that President Donald Trump has clearly not just said racist things, but is a racist,” Luján told a group of about a dozen people.
When Trump began his presidential campaign, Luján said, “he went after Mexican immigrants in the most ugly way anybody could by calling them rapists and murderers and whatnot.”
The congressman spoke of Trump’s attack on U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel of California, a native of Indiana, as well as the president’s ban on immigrants from certain predominantly Muslim nations. “Those are all attacks based on race,” Luján said. Back to talking taxes, Luján launched a fusillade against the Republican plan that Trump signed into law last month, saying New Mexicans will see “direct hits” with the tax plan, particularly tax filers who take advantage of state and local tax deductions.
“This will be a devastating impact to many families that use this in places like New Mexico,” Luján said. “What that means, as well, is that when you start eliminating some of those state and local deductions with that line item, you start to jeopardize funding for even local efforts like firefighting, police services.”
Broadly speaking, Luján compared the current tax package to previous Republican attempts at supply-side economics, what he called a failed concept.
“The idea is if you cut taxes for the top earners in America, the corporations in America, that will trickle down and help everyone else,” he said. But history has proven that doesn’t work, he said.
Luján pointed to tax cuts in Kansas in 2012, often called a “supply-side experiment.” The cuts were aimed to boost the economy but instead led to slower growth.
“The assessment in Kansas was pretty simple: Economic growth and job promise never happened,” Luján said.
Tax cuts in New Mexico in recent years, touted as a way to lure businesses to the state, have been similarly criticized as an economic failure in a state that has struggled to recover from the recession and continues to have one of the highest jobless rates in the nation.