Top Republicans are warning their fellow party members that failing to repeal Obamacare could imperil the goal of a massive tax cut -- and perhaps more of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
As a health-care replacement bill backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan struggles to gain support from House conservatives and Senate Republicans, some GOP lawmakers argue that a once-in-a-generation opportunity to overhaul the U.S. tax code with stout cuts in tax rates for businesses and individuals depends on the outcome. U.S. stocks have rallied since Trump’s election, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reaching a record high earlier this month, buoyed in part by the expectation of corporate tax cuts. The index had declined Tuesday by almost 1 percent to 2,352.52 at 1:15 p.m. in New York.
“If we are not able to move forward with health-care reform, it endangers tax reform,” Representative Bill Flores of Texas, a former chairman of a House conservative caucus, said in an interview Friday. “The folks that were able to tear this down would feel like they’re empowered to tear the next big project down.”
The health-care legislation contains tax cuts of its own -- about $883 billion worth over 10 years -- that the bill would pay for by cutting roughly the same amount of federal Medicaid spending. Accomplishing those tax cuts would set a lower revenue baseline, Republicans say -- giving them a better chance of achieving revenue neutrality in subsequent tax legislation. A revenue-neutral tax bill could bypass rules requiring 60 votes in the Senate, where Republicans hold only 52 seats.
“This is so basic to what we’ve promised over the last few elections,” Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the majority whip, said of the health-care legislation. “I think if we fail to keep this promise then I think it makes the rest of our work much, much more difficult to accomplish.”
As a health-care replacement bill backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan struggles to gain support from House conservatives and Senate Republicans, some GOP lawmakers argue that a once-in-a-generation opportunity to overhaul the U.S. tax code with stout cuts in tax rates for businesses and individuals depends on the outcome. U.S. stocks have rallied since Trump’s election, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reaching a record high earlier this month, buoyed in part by the expectation of corporate tax cuts. The index had declined Tuesday by almost 1 percent to 2,352.52 at 1:15 p.m. in New York.
“If we are not able to move forward with health-care reform, it endangers tax reform,” Representative Bill Flores of Texas, a former chairman of a House conservative caucus, said in an interview Friday. “The folks that were able to tear this down would feel like they’re empowered to tear the next big project down.”
The health-care legislation contains tax cuts of its own -- about $883 billion worth over 10 years -- that the bill would pay for by cutting roughly the same amount of federal Medicaid spending. Accomplishing those tax cuts would set a lower revenue baseline, Republicans say -- giving them a better chance of achieving revenue neutrality in subsequent tax legislation. A revenue-neutral tax bill could bypass rules requiring 60 votes in the Senate, where Republicans hold only 52 seats.
“This is so basic to what we’ve promised over the last few elections,” Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the majority whip, said of the health-care legislation. “I think if we fail to keep this promise then I think it makes the rest of our work much, much more difficult to accomplish.”