Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) is the lead author of the House Republican’s tax legislation — a bill the GOP’s own analysis finds will mean higher taxes for families earning between $20,000 and $40,000. But after months of promises that every American would see a tax cut under the “tax reform” legislation, Brady suggested on Tuesday that while not everyone will get a tax cut, everyone will be “better off” anyway.
On Fox News on Tuesday, America’s Newsroom host Bill Hemmer asked Brady, straight up, if “every American gets a tax cut under your plan?”
Unable to truthfully answer in the affirmative, Brady instead responded that “Every American will be better off under this plan.”
“You have to look at your unique situation,” he then explained. “What joint committee confirmed yesterday is yes, the design of this, because it isn’t just about the rates, it is about cutting taxes underneath those rates as well, people are better off.”
Watch:
It is unclear how a family making $28,000 a year would be “better off” with a tax increase, but Hemmer and Brady quickly changed the subject to talk about the possibility of future tax legislation in the next congress.
A day earlier, House Republican Majority Whip Steve Scalise suggested that while some individuals would pay more under the plan, they could save money by opting out of paying for previously deductible behaviors like paying state and local taxes, medical bills, and student loan interest.