Republican House and Senate negotiators – including Ohio U.S. Sen. Rob Portman – have agreed on a compromise tax package will likely come up for a series of votes next week. Details are scarce but, as WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports, Ohio’s Democratic U.S. senator continues to lambaste the foundation of the deal.
Sherrod Brown says he and his Republican counterpart, Rob Portman, have worked together on issues ranging from opioids to trade, but the tax package represents a philosophical divide. Portman sees tax cuts for corporations and investors as a way to stimulate the economy for everyone. Brown sees it as the latest incarnation of failed trickle-down economics.
“If you say you’re going to cut taxes on the middle class then pass a bill that cuts taxes on the middle class. That puts money in people’s pockets, they buy things, it creates demand.”
Portman, who has been a deficit hawk, maintains the tax package will boost wages and decrease the federal deficit because it will generate more revenue.
