WASHINGTON, D.C.— House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Fox News Channel’s Your World with Neil Cavuto this afternoon to discuss how companies are already announcing higher wages, increased investment, and bonuses for their employees following this week’s successful passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
On the impact TCJA is already having on the economy…
“Well, Neil, happy days are here again. You’re going to see the President sign this bill in the next few days. And you’re already seeing the benefit that so many millions of workers are going to be seeing that have been wanting this kind of relief. And it’s not just about cutting taxes to put more money in their pockets, which is going to be important, but, as you see now, there’s true competition going on, where AT&T started it, $1,000 for over 200,000 workers. And there’s more to come. You’re going to see I think more and more companies every day announcing these kinds of benefits to workers, because there’s an increased value in workers. They are going to see increased paychecks. This is what we said was going to happen. But it’s already happening before the bill is even signed into law.”
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“You are going to see a lot more of this, Neil. You’re seeing companies invest in their workers. They’re also investing billions of dollars in new infrastructure. And you are going to see that in every sector of our economy. It’s going to ripple through to the guy that works at AT&T who is maybe laying fiber-optic cable throughout more communities, more broadband going to rural communities. This is the benefit that you are going to see, not just, again, in your paychecks, not when — not only when you do your taxes. You are going to pay less in taxes now, but you are also going to be seeing more jobs created. A lot of those jobs that left America that we complained about for so long, in our bill, we did something about it. We made our country competitive again, so we`re going to see those jobs come back to America.”
On President Trump’s leadership on this bill…
“Well, look, I’m glad after this long debate over this bill, people now realize how good it is, so much so that they want it to be signed sooner. Look, President Trump had a great celebration at the White House yesterday, where he started the process of letting people know about this bill, because if you’re just reading about it in your local newspaper, you’re probably hearing a lot of this boogeyman, Frankenstein foolishness from the left, who are scared to death of people getting more of their money back. But once people start seeing that money come back in their paychecks and they see bigger paychecks at their office, they are going to actually realize how good of a bill this is. So, as soon as President Trump wants to sign it, I’m just excited we have a president who wants to sign this bill and who helped us get to this point. We wouldn’t be at this point without the leadership of President Donald Trump, Vice President Pence. Their whole team at the White House has been great in helping us get that bill to his desk. And when he signs it, it’s going to be an even bigger celebration for families and workers in the middle class who have been crying for this kind of relief for generations.”
On liberal scare tactics…
“When these elite, liberal, out-of-touch people in Washington say they don’t want you to have more of your paycheck, they just yell tax cuts for the rich. Well, all of a sudden, that worker at AT&T that just got $1,000 back who is maybe living paycheck to paycheck is saying, ‘I’m not the rich and I just got a big bonus that is going to help me go buy more Christmas presents for my kid.’ What do you tell that worker who now is going to get that money back in his pocket? Their argument falls flat for all of those middle-class families.”
On states with high taxes…
“And, Neil, even in those high-tax states like New York, New Jersey, California, Illinois, whatever state you might be in, every single rate comes down. And we have run the numbers in a lot of those states, by the way, Neil. And with our tax cuts, by every tax rate, doubling the standard deduction, every single income bracket in almost every congressional district sees their tax rate goes down, in every single income bracket, even with that SALT deduction going away in high-tax states. So, you’re going to see a huge benefit to middle-class families. To everybody who pay taxes, they’re going to see a tax cut.”
…
“Look at how our economy is going to take off and how that is going to help them. But also look to your local state. And if your state is raising taxes on you at such a high level that the only way to equalize it is by saying, please have the federal government deduct every dime of it, now they’re going to go back to Albany, they’re going to go back to Trenton, and they’re going to say, you need to lower our taxes too, because it really worked at the federal level. Now you need to lower our taxes, because those taxes are too high. Let’s have that national debate, Neil.”
On working to build up his strength…
“I’m feeling great, Neil. Look, the President came to see me in my darkest days. When I was in the hospital those first few hours, the President and Melania Trump came and really consoled my wife. I was unconscious just being — fighting for my life. But my wife was really dealing with some tough, tough times, when we weren’t sure if I was going to make it. And to have the President come personally to the hospital with the First Lady, it meant so much to my wife, to my family. And then he called every step of the way. And, look, I lost 50 pounds from the day I walked into the hospital until about a month later.”
…
“I’m trying to get some of [the weight] back and I’m building a lot of my strength back. But to have such support from my colleagues here, Republican and Democrat, and the warm wishes of family and friends back home, but even prayers from people I never met before, I can’t say thanks enough to all the people who helped me get to this point, who prayed for me. God has been great to me. We have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas, but what an exciting time to come back to work and be a part of this, Neil. It’s really — it’s been invigorating and exciting to be a part of.”
On focusing on the important things in life…
“Well, when you have that kind of experience that I had, I don’t wish it upon anybody, but it really does galvanize and refocus you on the things that are important in life. And my family was at the forefront. But just the things that you love doing. And I love doing a lot of things back home in New Orleans and hunting and fishing. And I have gotten to do that again. I went hunting, duck hunting, with my son for the first time just last weekend. But to come back to work, I love this job. I love fighting for the people that I represent in Southeast Louisiana and just the things that we wanted to do to get our country back on track and restore the American dream. I knew what was right in front of us when I was fighting to get out of the hospital in August and finally in September. And I knew that we were going to be able to have this opportunity. But if we didn’t put it together, it wouldn’t happen.”
On fighting for the American dream…
“I have been through eight years under Barack Obama where our country was going in the wrong direction. And, frankly, a lot of us felt that we were losing the American Dream, and we needed to fight to get it back. And we had a president who wanted to do this. So, I knew we only had maybe one moment to get this right. And if we didn’t get it right, I think you would have easily been able to say this Congress was not a success at all, maybe a failure. But, instead, we did it. We said we were not — failure wasn’t going to be an option. And we stayed to get it done and we came together. You saw a lot of uniting and taking a lot of criticism from people who didn’t even read this bill, but ultimately who now realize how good it`s going to be for the country and to rebuild the middle class, Neil. I talk to people every day who are just struggling to get by. And now they are going to have real opportunity because of what we did with this Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”