Thanks to President Trump, Christmas will come twice for Floridians this year— if “Tax Cuts 2.0” can make it through Congress by December.
Floridians are already enjoying the benefits of President Trump’s first tax plan enacted at the beginning of this year, but Congressional Republicans are currently drafting new legislation to make those changes to our tax code permanent, along with some additional improvements.
Florida is perhaps the number one showcase of how President Trump’s tax plan is benefiting Americans. Dozens of businesses in our state have either increased salaries, raised hourly wages, or awarded employees one-time bonuses of $1,000 or more.
For cities in Florida like Jacksonville, the tax plan has resulted in an unemployment rate of a near all-time low of 3.1 percent. Despite the destruction of Hurricane Irma, Florida added nearly 200,000 jobs in 2017 alone, and our state’s overall unemployment rate is at the lowest level in over a decade.
Nearly four million American jobs have been created nationwide since November 2016, with one million created since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act became law earlier this year. In addition to unemployment being at the lowest point in decades, job openings are at a record high. More than 213,000 new jobs were added in June, adding to the 6.5 million job openings for the month — marking the first time that there have been more job openings than job seekers since 2000.
And thanks to a doubling of the standard deduction and lower tax rates, 90 percent of Americans saw bigger paychecks this year.
But President Trump believes the progress shouldn’t stop there.
That’s why Republicans in Washington are pushing for “Tax Cuts 2.0” this fall. While the first tax package reduced the individual tax rates, some of those provisions are set to expire in the coming years. The new tax package could make some of those cuts permanent.
To provide the economy another boost, President Trump recently said, “One of the things I'm thinking about is bringing the 21% [corporate tax rate] down to 20%,” adding it would provide a “great stimulus.”
Finally, the 2.0 legislation would encourage Americans to save more. A new reportfound that 65 percent of Americans save little to nothing at all, causing problems in their retirement.
However, none of this will happen if obstructionist politicians like Senator Bill Nelson stay in office. He will undoubtedly resist any efforts to put more money in the pockets of Floridians.
Nelson voted against the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, saying, "It's going to give a few nuggets to the middle class…” Yet, we just learned that our economy grew at a pace of 4.1 percent for the first time in years, on track for an annual growth rate of over 3 percent. In the wake of tremendous economic news, tax cuts opponents like Senator Nelson will have a tough time arguing they were right about the historic Trump tax plan that is producing epic results.
But wait, it gets worse. During his tenure in the Senate, Nelson proposed a job killing energy tax hike, voted against the Bush tax cuts, and voted over 300 times in favor of raising taxes and fees.
At nearly every turn, Senator Bill Nelson betrays Floridians by voting to increase their taxes — stifling business growth and job creation in the process. But what can you expect from someone who voted with President Obama 98 percent of the time?
Tax cuts are one of the best ways government can get out of the way of job producers and job seekers. They’re predicated on the simple notion that you spend your money better than Washington does.
This will undoubtedly help reverse the poverty and inequities that have plagued our country over the past decade and allow everyone to participate in the American dream.
Let’s do tax cuts and secure new leadership for Florida to lock in this extraordinary progress for good.