Clinton Treasury secretary: GOP tax bill a ‘serious policy error’

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers railed against Republicans’ tax reform plan on Friday, calling it “madness” and a “serious policy error.”

Summers, who served as head of the Treasury Department under former President Clinton, criticized the plan for repealing ObamaCare’s individual insurance mandate, and for claiming that tax cuts would lead to an average pay raise of between $4,000 and $9,000 for the average American household.

“It is madness to spend $300 billion taking health insurance away from more than 10 million Americans in order to finance tax cuts for the top 1 percent of Americans,” Summers said in an interview on CNN’s “New Day.” “What values are served by doing that?” {mosads}

“I think this plan will bloat our deficit, favor the most affluent and mortgage our future. It’s a serious policy error,” he continued. “Yes there may be some stimulus to investment, and yes that may have some impact on wages, but no serious expert who looks at the actual plans under discussion has or will support the $4,000 to $9,000 claim.”

The House on Thursday passed legislation to overhaul the tax code, moving Republicans one step closer to achieving the top item on their legislative agenda. 

The measure was approved by a vote of 227-205. No Democrats voted for the bill, while 13 Republicans broke ranks to oppose it.  

GOP leaders are hoping to get legislation to President Trump’s desk by Christmas, an ambitious timeline given the obstacles that are mounting in the Senate.