GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – One of Wisconsin’s Republican Congressmen is expressing some concerns with President Trump’s proposed tax plan.
During a Thursday appearance on WTAQ’s Jerry Bader Show, Sixth District Representative Glenn Grothman stated “it may be a little bit too generous: a lot to the people who don’t work very much, okay to the very wealthy. I want to make sure we’re looking out for the average guy.”
The plan calls for doubling the standard deduction for single people and married couples, from the current $6,350 and $12,700, respectively.
It would reportedly expand the number of low to moderate income families who do not pay taxes.
However, all other deductions, with the exception of mortgage interest and charitable contributions, would be eliminated.
As for companies, the tax rate for small businesses would drop from 39.6% to 15%.
In a similar decrease, the corporate tax rate would go from 35% to 15%.
Grothman supports providing relief for businesses because “as you reduce taxes, the economy will grow. That will unquestionably happen to a degree. Right now, high tax rates are particularly stifling businesses out.”
He believes many international businesses are currently being unfairly punished.
“If you have an American multi-national company that’s making money in Europe, we say ‘don’t bring that money back to expand your plant in the United States or we’ll tax you.’”
The Trump Administration did not immediately release any information on how to pay for the tax cuts.
Grothman notes the importance of ensuring the plan balances to avoid adding to the nation’s current deficit, which is nearing $20,000,000,000,000.
The Glenbeulah Republican also weighed in on the American Healthcare Act.
He says recent changes to the proposed GOP healthcare bill have made for “a more big-government bill than we were reportedly going to vote on a few weeks ago.”
On March 24, Republican House leaders pulled the bill that aimed to repeal and replace Obamacare from the floor when they learned there was not enough votes for it to pass.
Since then, changes have been made in an attempt to gain support from the conservative Freedom Caucus and moderate Tuesday Group, two unofficial House Republican groups that opposed the AHA proposal in its initial form.
On Thursday, Grothman was especially critical of the Tuesday group, calling them “big government Republicans that want to keep Obamacare.”
Grothman notes the Affordable Care Act needs to be done away with since it has left roughly 1/3 of United States’ counties with only one healthcare provider.
By next year, Grothman says there will be many counties without a single provider.
GOP leaders initially anticipated a vote this week, but that has been delayed.
House Speaker Paul Ryan says the vote will happen once the necessary votes have been secured.
