John Kennedy: Republicans need to pass tax reform this year

Sen. John Kennedy said Monday that Republicans need to pass tax reform both for the American people and the party’s political future.

“Number one, our economy needs it. Number two, the people in charge at the moment here in Washington, my party, we need it. Now, that doesn’t mean we need to just pass anything. We need to do it right,” Mr. Kennedy, Louisiana Republican, said on CNN.

Reducing taxes overall should give a boost to the economy that will increase wages while decreasing costs, he said.

Mr. Kennedy cautioned that the increase may be incremental, but said it will get the economy back on a path of growth.

“I don’t think it’s going to bust through the ceiling, but I think you can see a half to a point of GDP growth. It’ll get us back to average, which is supposed to be about 3 percent. We’re at about 1.9 percent now, and that’s why we don’t have the jobs we should have, and more importantly that’s why you haven’t seen wages going up,” he said.

House Republicans released their tax reform plan in late September after months of talks behind closed doors. In the initial plan, Republicans aim to cut the corporate tax from 35 percent to 20 percent as well as slash the tax brackets from seven to three, with the option of creating a fourth bracket for the wealthiest taxpayers. They also would like to simplify the tax code enough to allow people to file their taxes on a postcard.