Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stood by his previously stated goal of passing tax reform without reducing revenue just days after Congress passed a budget to pave the way for tax cuts that could add an estimated 1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.
Asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” if he was abandoning his long-stated vow to pass a revenue-neutral tax overhaul, McConnell said, “We’re not.”
McConnell argued the tax proposal, the framework of which includes large tax cuts for the top earners and corporations, would spur enough economic growth to pay for itself and that the $1.5 trillion deficit figure did not take into account the kind of growth he expects.
“I actually think it’s a fairly conservative estimate of how much growth we’re likely to get out of this pro-growth tax reform,” McConnell said.