East Idaho Times

U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the lead Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, recently appeared on Fox Business with Larry Kudlow to discuss tax-related issues, particularly efforts to prevent a significant tax increase for Americans.

Senator Crapo addressed concerns about extending tax cuts, stating: “Under our current scoring rules, the failure to stop tax increases from happening is considered a deficit. This is a $4 trillion tax increase on Americans, two and a half trillion of which will fall on people making less than $400,000, and [opponents] are arguing that not letting taxes go up—which is what the liberals want—is going to create a deficit. That's a crazy argument.”

Crapo referenced past actions by former President Barack Obama when facing similar circumstances regarding expiring tax cuts from President Bush's era: “Barack Obama, when he faced this same question—when President Bush’s tax cuts were expiring—did the same thing I'm proposing. That is to say, if you're just extending current law, we're not raising taxes or lowering taxes. To say that is a $4 trillion deficit is ridiculous.”

He also criticized existing Washington scoring protocols related to spending and taxation: “Under the spending protocols that we use, extending current spending does not score as a deficit. But extending current tax policy scores as a deficit. That's ridiculous.”

In conclusion, Crapo emphasized his commitment to preventing substantial tax hikes without increasing the federal deficit: “We're going to have to take the bold steps of saying to the American people that we are not going to let $4 trillion of tax hikes happen and that it’s not going to increase the deficit.”