In a Benson & Harf radio exclusive this week, Marie and I sat down with House Speaker Paul Ryan on Capitol Hill for a wide-ranging discussion. Among the topics we covered were Ryan's reflections on surrendering power on his own terms, post-Speakership plans, the Jerusalem embassy move and Gaza violence, the House Intelligence Committee and the Russia probe, deficits, the GOP's 2018 agenda (which includes the now-imperiled Farm Bill), immigration (on which House leadership may not be able to avoid an election-year debate, as they would likely have preferred), and tax reform's economic gains. Here is the entirety of our interview, which runs approximately 15 minutes. If you're interested in the Speaker's responses on certain topics, a rough outline of the conversation's progression -- with time stamps -- click through:
On the subject of tax reform, the good news keeps rolling in:
Survey: US manufacturers are bullish on new hiring, boosting wages and increasing investments -- and hold overwhelmingly positive views on the overall US economy -- largely thanks to #TaxReform, which every Congressional Democrat opposed. pic.twitter.com/XE6LLSR7ki
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 18, 2018
NEW: Tax cut windfall seen lifting U.S. companies' business investments https://t.co/N4gy7Bfo4c
— Michael Shapiro (@mis2127) May 18, 2018
U.S. companies could plow more of the money saved from sweeping tax cuts into business investment later this year, perhaps even surpassing a jump in first-quarter capital expenditure that was the highest in almost seven years, strategists and analysts said...Higher spending on technology, equipment and facilities could ease worries that S&P 500 companies have reached a peak in the profit growth investors are counting on to extend the nine-year bull market in equities. The increased spending in the first quarter follows significant cuts in corporate taxes approved late last year by the Republican-led Congress.
One of the Congressional Democrats who unanimously opposed this progress was Indiana Senator Joe Donnelley, against whom President Trump and Vice President Pence have railed for his 'no' vote. In a new survey we linked earlier showing Donnelly slightly trailing his Republican challenger and hampered by a poor job approval rating, Indianans approve of the GOP tax law by 11 points. I'll leave you with a few more nuggets from the survey:
Indiana poll:
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 18, 2018
- GOP +3 on generic ballot
- Trump approval at 47/47
- Sen. Donnelly (D) trails challenger Braun (R) by 1 point
- Hoosiers approve of tax reform by 11 points
- Lopsided support for 20 week abortion ban & LGBT non-discrimination protections https://t.co/483xmu6tCq