If Republicans go for tax cuts and economic growth, they win elections. If they ignore the growth message, and especially if they ignore the growth message and spend more and more taxpayer money, they will lose elections. It’s a simple formula and I’m afraid they’re about to make a big mistake.
It’s not that our economy is collapsing; it holds its own very well in times of war. But there is $4 gas and many prices are still rising. And affordability is important. And even the reliable TIPP poll shows that four in ten voters think their taxes will be higher this year, and only one in ten think they will be lower. This is despite the numerous tax cuts in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, which unfortunately never sold well to American voters.
Last night I respectfully suggested this to a Republican in the Senate leadership, Shelley Moore Capito. “I don’t understand what you’re all doing with these bills. You’re not going to pay back the Department of Homeland Security,” I said. “No tax cuts, no inflation indexing for capital gains, no Pentagon military replenishment, no voting rights law, no waste, fraud and abuse.”
I added, “Senator Capito, you need to help me because I don’t understand. I think you’re all going the wrong way, ma’am.’ And she defended the narrow bill.
Still, I think there is only room for one major budget bill that can be passed with 50 votes plus the vice president. This is the reconciliation process. As things stand, the Senate is pushing for a so-called “skinny” bill that would only fund ICE and CBP for 3.5 years, at a cost of about $70 billion.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., discusses the Senate budget plan to fund ICE and CBP on ‘Kudlow.’
Now I’m all for border security and ICE and the Customs Bureau. But strangely, the rest of DHS, the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Transportation Security Administration are not even included in this bill. On the other hand, the whole world wants voting rights reform to require photo ID and proof of citizenship. But the GOP ignores that. Go figure. At $4 gas, a necessary casualty of Iran’s destruction, which I fully support, that’s a small price to pay. Still, working people could use a little more money in their pockets with more tax cuts.
Returning to President Reagan, supply-side tax cuts have always resonated positively with voters. President George W. Bush won the midterm elections by defending America against jihadists and through across-the-board tax cuts. That was in 2002. Capital gains on the inflation index could boost home sales and help the housing crisis. Lowering marginal tax rates, at least for middle income earners. And what about waste, fraud and abuse?
The Medicare administrator, Mehmet Oz, has already found $100 billion in Los Angeles alone. Where is that in this budget? What about completing the DOGE waste, fraud and abuse? Hundreds of billions of dollars, multiplied over ten years, would mean phenomenal deficit reduction on top of a growing economy.
So far we hear nothing about this crucial policy. And it is popular policy. And my best guess is that there will only be one bite at the budget apple, just like last year when I made exactly the same argument. Let’s enact popular policies that will draw all Republicans to a more ambitious budget bill that will show real leadership and performance in the midterm elections.
Please stop telling me what you can’t do and instead start telling working people everywhere what can be done to help them and make America more growthable again. That’s an interim victory.
