Thune wants Senate to focus on taxes, entitlements

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said he thinks the Republican-controlled Senate should take up tax and entitlement reforms next year.

“Let’s put up legislative accomplishments, which I think will help build trust to enable us to do some bigger things down the road — tax reform, entitlement reform, things that would really jumpstart our economy are things that we ought to be focused on,” Thune said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

{mosads}Last week, Republicans flipped enough Senate seats in the midterm elections to take over the upper chamber in 2015.

Thune said that Republicans will start by taking up House-passed energy and jobs bills and then move to larger measures such as tax and entitlement reforms.

“I would argue is that we can do big things in a time of divided government,” Thune said. “That’s been true in the past — Social Security reform, tax reform, welfare reform, balanced budgets.”

Thune vowed to send legislation to the president and said “he’s going to have to make a decision” on whether to sign the bills into law or veto them.