Republican lawmakers have discussed the possibility of raising taxes on top earners, it was reported Wednesday.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., confirmed that there has been “some” talk of higher tax rates for the wealthy in “free-flowing” conference lunch meetings, NBC News reported.
Cramer added that he found the topic “interesting.”
“It’s just so fun to be a Republican these days, just to watch the transformation, where suddenly people are going, ‘When you think about it, why do we worry so much about that?'” said Cramer, alluding to the GOP’s longtime goal of reducing taxes.
“So whether it’s allowing them to go up a little bit or even lowering some of the other stuff more, there’s a populism growing in the party, even among those of us with powdered wigs.”
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, chairman of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, was asked whether he supports a higher top tax rate when the 37% level lapses to 39.6% after this year.
“I will listen to my colleagues. I haven’t made any decision,” Crapo told NBC News.
House and Senate Republicans are trying to nail down a budget after a framework passed both chambers. GOP members have said they want to extend President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax breaks, and conservatives want spending reduction.
Nonpartisan analysts say the Trump agenda, if enacted, would add $5.7 trillion to the federal government’s debt over the next decade. Senate Republicans contend the cost is $1.5 trillion, saying the effects of extending existing tax policy that was scheduled to expire at the end of this year should not be counted in the measure’s cost.
On Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote an opinion column for The Washington Post to call on fellow Republican lawmakers to produce “the biggest working-class tax cut” in American history.
Hawley wrote that the GOP-led Congress can give America’s working class “a lifeline” by making the largest income tax credits — the home mortgage deduction, the child tax credit, and the charitable deduction — available to all citizens who pay the payroll tax.
Whether or not a tax on the wealthy would help offset Hawley’s plan, Senate Republicans are trying to figure out how to fund immigration enforcement and the military.
Also, with Trump having expanded the Republicans’ base to include more voters with lower incomes and without college degrees while higher-income and college-educated Americans drift toward Democrats, taxing the wealthy figures to appeal to more GOP supporters.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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