ICYMI: Sen. Cruz: We Need Economic Growth for Working Men and Women

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today appeared on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ and Fox News’ ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss his priorities for fundamental tax reform, health care reform, and Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts, among other topics.

When asked his priorities for fundamental tax reform on ‘Squawk Box,’ Sen. Cruz highlighted that the focus of tax reform should include real tax cuts for working men and women.

“I hope we see a big tax cut. I hope we lower the corporate rate. I’d like to see the corporate rate … at 15. I’d like to see real tax cuts for working men and women. The test for delivering is, ‘Are we delivering to the plumber in Michigan? Are we delivering to the single mom waiting tables in Texas?’ And if we are, that’s a good tax cut. Now the things that matter on that are a) individual rates that people are paying, but b) I think front and center the biggest concern should be jobs and economic growth. We need pro-growth tax cuts – and by the way, the word ‘cut’ is important. I think this should be an unapologetic tax cut, not just tax reform, but a real tax cut to generate booming economic growth.” 

When asked by Andrew Ross Sorkin about the merits of eliminating the death tax, Sen. Cruz argued that it’s the working men and women who pay the tax, not the wealthy.

“The billionaires, they don’t pay the estate tax,” Sen. Cruz said. “The really rich, they don’t pay the death tax. They hire lawyers and accountants, they do generation skipping trusts. You think the George Soros’ of the world are paying the death tax? No. The people who pay the death tax who I talk to all the time, are farmers out in West Texas who are growing cotton, who are struggling. And when they pass on, the next generation has to sell the farm in order to pay the federal government. The people who pay the estate tax are small business owners that have a small factory, that when the patriarch passes on, the next generation sells the factory and fires the workers. That’s what the death tax is all about.” 

Sen. Cruz continued, “The super-rich don’t pay it anyway. And that’s the one thing Bernie Sanders said in the last campaign that was right, he said the system is rigged. He’s right. Washington is rigged for the super wealthy. If we want to answer the mandate of this last election we need growth for the working men and women.”

On ‘America’s Newsroom,’ when asked about the President’s intention to expand the use of association health and short term insurance plans, Sen. Cruz reiterated the critical need for Congress to deliver on their promise to repeal Obamacare.

“It was exactly the right thing to do,” Sen. Cruz said. “These are massive bailouts to insurance companies. One of the interesting consequences of Obamacare, the profits of insurance companies have doubled. In 2008, the top ten insurance companies, they had about $8 billion in profits. In 2015, they had doubled to $15 billion. And so of course we shouldn’t be bailing out insurance companies. And you know one of the things that was also very clear, what the Obama Administration was doing - writing billions of dollars of checks - was illegal. Congress had not appropriated the funds. So the President is doing the right thing, but it underscores the need in the Senate, that we got to step up and deliver on our promise to repeal Obamacare. It puts even further heat on the Senate. I think we’re close, and we can’t give up on it. We need to keep working until we get to 50 votes and deliver on that promise.”

On ‘America’s Newsroom,’ Sen. Cruz also discussed the Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts in Texas, and the Cruz-Cornyn-Rubio tax relief bill that offers significant tax relief for those affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

“Texas is hurting,” Sen. Cruz said. “Harvey did enormous damage through a massive stretch – I mean 250 miles. From Corpus to Louisiana. We’re coming back. It was inspirational to see Texans coming together and standing together. In the middle of the storm, the story of Harvey will be thousands of Texans that just went out and saved their neighbors.”

Sen. Cruz continued, “Two weeks ago, Congress just passed legislation that I introduced with John Cornyn and Marco Rubio, and it’s targeted tax relief at all of the people who were hit by Harvey, and Irma, and Maria. It lets people deduct the damages from the storm. It lets people withdraw from their retirement, their 401(k) and IRA without paying the penalties. It gives tax credits for employers who paid their employees during their storm.”

Watch Sen. Cruz’s full interviews below:

Sen. Cruz on CNBC's 'Squawk Box'

Sen. Cruz on Fox News' 'America's Newsroom'

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