Economist Stephen Moore on Sunday called for tax cuts for businesses to be included in the latest COVID-19 relief and government funding bill advanced by Congress this week.
The $900 billion bill passed as part of a $2.3 trillion omnibus spending bill that will fund the government until October.
The COVID-19 relief legislation passed with broad bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, but President Trump earlier this week condemned the package as inadequate and filled with wasteful spending.
Trump specifically cited among his criticism $85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia and $40 million for the Kennedy Center in Washington, adding that stimulus checks for Americans should be increased from $600 to $2,000.
Moore, who serves as an outside adviser to the president, said during an interview with John Catsimatidis on his radio show on WABC 770 AM, that tax cuts are a necessary element to boost the economy struggling amid the pandemic.
“If you want to stimulate the economy, tell businesses they don’t have to pay a payroll tax,” he said. “Tell workers they don’t have to pay income tax or payroll tax. You’ll have the biggest boom you ever saw. Instead we’re spending money on Sudan.”
Moore also criticized the length of the nearly 6,000-page bill, admitting that he agreed with some progressive lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who argued that lawmakers did not have enough time to understand the bill before it was passed.
“I agree with AOC, of all people, who said, ‘This is an outrage. We might not even be able to read the bill before we all have to vote on it,’” Moore explained. “I hope, John, that Donald Trump vetoes this bill.”
“This bill should be cleaned of all the pork and the aid should go directly to individuals, not the lobbyists,” the economist added.
Moore then argued that the $1.4 trillion bill to fund the government until October has “no pro-growth element.”
“Where are the tax cuts? Where is the de-regulation? Where are the things that will incentivize our businesses to get back up and running?” he questioned. “My New Year’s wish for 2021 is that we stop this shutdown of our economy and let businesses operate.”
“We cannot have another year like 2020,” Moore continued.
John Catsimatidis is an investor in The Hill.