Ryan: GOP tax plan will be deficit neutral

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Sunday said the GOP’s proposed tax reform plan will be “deficit neutral,” adding that the proposal will spur economic growth that will help reduce the United States’ debt.

“It’s going to be deficit neutral. That’s the budget rules we use, which is call the Byrd Rule,” Ryan told host John Dickerson on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Ryan said the tax reform plan would tackle “runaway” government spending, paving the way for economic growth. That growth, he argued, would then help drive down the nation’s debt.

{mosads}”We do fundamentally believe that this tax code and this tax reform will give us faster economic growth. Faster economic growth helps raise the economy, which raises revenues. And that helps us tackle the deficit. There’s two things we’ve got to do to get rid of this debt. Deal with entitlements, that’s why we’re frustrated health care reform hasn’t passed the Senate yet. Deal with runaway spending, but also grow the economy,” the Wisconsin lawmaker said.

“If this results in giving us a faster economic growth, that will help us reduce our debt,” he continued.

President Trump and GOP lawmakers released a framework proposal last week, which immediately received praise from congressional conservatives.

The president has said that the middle class would reap the benefits instead of the wealthy, but Ryan would not guarantee every middle-class person would receive a tax cut under the new plan. 

— Updated: 6:36 p.m.