Mike Rounds: Tax reform will grow the economy at a faster rate

Sen. Mike Rounds said Tuesday that part of the Republicans’ goal in passing tax reform is to increase economic growth at a faster rate.

“Part of the message, that we probably don’t do a real good job of sending, is we’re a half-trillion dollars in further in debt every single year, and it’s going to get worse,” Mr. Rounds, South Dakota Republican, said on Fox Business.

He said part of the goal for tax reform is to increase that growth to stop adding to the debt.

“We can’t do it when we’re growing at a paltry 1.8 percent like we have for the past 10 years. Our plan is to grow the economy at a faster rate,” Mr. Rounds said.

Republicans have been criticized for their tax plan, which some experts estimate it could add to up to $1 trillion to the debt. Supporters argue that while there may be an initial increase to the debt, the overall growth that would result from the tax cuts would make up for that in the long term.