Norquist: Tax overhaul will help Republicans win in 2018

Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist argued in an interview aired Sunday that the tax overhaul Republicans are rushing to pass this week will help GOP lawmakers going into the 2018 midterm elections.

“The strong economic growth that will flow from the tax cuts, the higher value of stocks and bonds, the savings that people have from lower taxes … will help the Republicans win House and Senate seats” in 2018, Norquist said in an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York.

Democrats have remained unified in opposing the tax plan for each chamber’s vote on their versions of the bill, and have made the “GOP tax scam” a central focus of their 2018 election efforts, in working to win back majorities in both the House and Senate. 

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Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform who has long advocated for a simpler and less burdensome tax code, argued that the GOP legislation would help the average taxpayer and put pressure on lawmakers from high-tax states such as New York to lower taxes.

The final bill agreed upon in conference between the House and Senate caps the state and local tax deduction at $10,000, allowing filers to deduct state and local property, income and sales taxes up to that amount.

“In 1,000 different local governments, politicians who were planning to raise your taxes will not,” Norquist said.

“I think we’ll be surprised at how quickly politicians with national ambitions will bring their marginal tax rates down on both income taxes and on property taxes,” he said.

The House is expected to vote on the bill early this week, followed by a final vote in the Senate, sending the bill to President Trump’s desk before the Christmas recess.