“You know, I think it is so interesting. We are all coming together, various States, to celebrate these accomplishments and to take a step back: how far we have come in the past year or the past several months where you look back and, basically, there was a national consensus that had developed, and the consensus was nobody liked our Tax Code—I mean nobody. Nobody could defend it because it was absurd. It was so complicated. Those of us who are from the Chicago area, we know that the last time the Tax Code was updated was when the Bears won the Super Bowl, so that is 30 years ago. …The Tax Code was such a throwback that the last time it was updated, 1986, the internet didn’t exist, basically, as a commercial enterprise. There was no shared economy, per se. Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, all those things, they didn’t exist. Global supply chains were nowhere nearly as connected as they are today, which all begged the question that we needed a Tax Code to update things. “Now, here is what was interesting: The hyperbole that surrounded the debate on the tax reform bill as H.R. 1 kept moving in and, ultimately, came to a crescendo, passed through the House, passed through the Senate, and was signed into law, it was described by, God bless them, our friends on the other side of the aisle as the worst bill ever, Armageddon, and, obviously, now, the famous line that the result of these things were crumbs. Well, none of that turned out to be true. This was a terrific bill. “Let me just give you a couple of examples, Mr. Speaker, of people in my constituency who have written publicly or they have written to me privately about this bill. Here is Mary from Wheaton, Illinois, my hometown. She said: ‘Our family is already feeling the positive impact of the changes made in the Tax Code. Our daughter and her husband just had their first baby and will be able to take advantage of the doubled child tax credit next year. Throughout our extended family, those who work for big and small businesses alike are witnessing immediate effects. Companies are investing the anticipated benefits of the new tax law in the form of bonuses, pay raises, capital improvements, and new hires. And that’s just the beginning. The true value of this Tax Code will become even more evident in the months and years ahead.’ Mary is absolutely right. “…Nicole, from Elgin. She says: ‘Thanks to the new tax bill, my family will be saving an estimated $4,000 on our taxes next year. Not only that, but I’m getting a $1,000 bonus and an extra $1,500 in my employee pension account from my employer as a result of the changes.’ “…an enrolled agent, Stephen, from Wayne. He prepares people’s taxes. He says: ‘As an enrolled agent entering my 35th tax season, I am anxiously awaiting the smiles I will be getting from my clients when I inform them how much they will be saving on their 2018 tax return . . . the clear majority of my clients will be paying lower tax rates in 2018 due to the recently passed Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.’ And then I will go to the end of his note. He says: ‘I haven’t been able to say this very often over the past 35 years, but I am actually looking forward to this tax season.’” “Look, if all the critics can do is basically say, well, this isn’t enough or this is crumbs, they have not been to my constituency. To tell a family that I represent, Mr. Speaker, that $1,000 is crumbs is just patently obtuse. $1,000 is real money: $1,000 is getting ahead on a car payment; $1,000 is the ability to move forward and say we are going to go on a little extra special vacation, we are going to put a little bit more money toward our college fund, we are going to put a little bit more money toward our retirement.”
REP. MIKE BOST: |
