preview

The West Virginia Chapter Of Americans For Prosperity : Case Analysis

Better Essays

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For Jason Huffman, state director of the West Virginia chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the congressional efforts to pass tax legislation is an opportunity to spur economic growth. "This is a huge step for taxpayers. This is going to make American businesses competitive again, it's going to put more money in the pockets of West Virginians and we've championed this issue since day one," he said. Yet from the viewpoint of Ted Boettner, who serves as the executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, lawmakers are serving the wealthiest Americans and corporations by pushing legislation that protects tax cuts for high-income earners. "This is just a horrible waste of resources," he described the …show more content…

The JCT reported an earlier version of the Senate tax bill would increase deficits by $1 trillion between 2018 and 2027, noting the number accounts for around $408 billion in economic growth. The Congressional Budget Office reports the total addition to the deficit could trigger a $25 billion cut to Medicare. Huffman discounted these reports, saying the JCT previously underscored the economic growth that took place as a result of tax legislation under former President George W. Bush. "They discounted a lot of positive growth effects of tax reform package," Huffman said of the recent analysis. "That's one government analysis, granted what some folks would call 'mainstream.' History proves that tax reform — tax cuts specifically — they grow the federal revenue. Why? Businesses make more money and people have larger paychecks and they are putting more into the economy." Boettner said a congressional bill would hurt most West Virginians, noting how the individual tax cuts in the Senate plan would expire in 2026 while the corporate tax change would remain. "People say, 'Oh, you're going to get tax cuts up front, but you're going to get tax increases at the end. Don't just look at the end,'" he said. "That's part of the bill. That was their choice to make a lot of middle-income West Virginians pay for tax cuts for the

Get Access