Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called on Republican legislators to pass “the largest working-class tax cuts” in American history.
Hawley, in a Tuesday column for The Washington Post, wrote that the GOP Congress could give America’s “working class” a “lifeline” by allowing all Americans who pay payroll tax to take advantage of the biggest income tax credits – the home mortgage deductions, child tax credit, and charitable deductions.
Hawley stated that the United States federal government receives more than $1 trillion in annual payroll taxes from American workers.
He gave two examples. One was a father with six children and a pastor in a small congregation. The other was a married couple who had two daughters, as well as a mortgage. Each would be able to save between $6.500 and $7.500 per year.
These popular tax credits offer billions of dollars in tax relief each year. Hawley writes, “As it stands, these tax credits are only available to those who earn a lot of money and pay a lot of income taxes.”
Two-thirds pay more in payroll tax than in income tax. Most working-class Americans do not pay any income tax.
Hawley is a member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He said that negotiations on President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ budget bill included ‘ surprisingly little’ talk about tax cuts for those who most need them: America’s middle class.
These are people who earn less than $80,000 a year. These are the people who delivered an electoral win for Trump. Hawley wrote, “These are the Americans Washington’s policy makers have forgotten for generations. Republicans must remember them and give them the biggest tax cut of our lifetime.”
Haley said that working Americans need a rest because manufacturing jobs are disappearing, blue-collar employees haven’t seen a pay increase in decades, and rent, mortgages, and groceries have become unaffordable.
Hawley stated that “all this hurts the soul as well as the bank account.” “Young people leave their hometowns to find work. Families are split apart, and small towns die.
“Most parents are working long hours to earn enough money for their children, who are exhausted and dejected when they return home. Many Americans are living to survive at the moment with no future hope. They have no time for their neighborhood, churches, or families.”
“Republicans could begin to fix it.” They can provide a lifeline to America’s workers by offering them the largest working-class tax cuts in history.”
Last week, House Republicans narrowly approved their proposed budget. This was a political turn-around after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) worked late into the night in order to appease GOP holdouts, who refused to accept trillions of tax breaks unless deeper spending cuts were made.
The Republican budget plan is centered on the Republicans’ effort to maintain the tax breaks that were approved in 2017 under Trump’s first administration and possibly add the new ones he promised during his campaign for 2024. This includes no tax on Social Security income, tipped wages, and other items, bringing the total cost to $7 trillion in the next decade.
