On the recordDecember 12, 2017
We have heard that argument over and over. If I am not mistaken, the economy is working pretty close to maximum right now, 3 percent. The unemployment rate is 4 percent or in that range, maybe a little lower, and the Federal Reserve is looking at increasing the interest rate to slow down the economy. Our Republican friends say they need to beef up the economy. So tell me how it works. When the Federal Government borrows more money for this deficit, that will cause interest rates to go up because they are competing with other folks who want to borrow money. The Federal Reserve is increasing interest rates. So we can look for interest rates going up. The economy is slowing down. So how does this increase? It just doesn't work in macroeconomic terms in any way. But I don't want to be an economist. What I want to be is just factual. So if I might, for a moment, these are 10 popular deductions that the Republicans are limiting or repealing in their tax bill, the list of horribles: limits the State and local tax deduction, which is a big problem for California, a big problem for New York, a big problem for, really, every State because every State has taxpayers who deduct State and local taxes. For California, in my district, 32 percent of the taxpayers use this deduction, and it is over $10,000. We are a high-cost State, housing and so forth.
