Ryan opens door to tax cuts adding to deficit

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

House Speaker Paul Ryan backed off months of promises that the Republicans’ tax plan won’t add to the nation’s ballooning deficit, declaring Wednesday in an AP Newsmaker interview that the most important goal of an overhaul is economic growth.

Asked twice whether he would insist the emerging tax plan won’t pile more billions onto the $20 trillion national debt, Ryan passed up the chance to affirm that commitment. GOP leaders made that “revenue neutral” promise in a campaign manifesto last year and many times since.

“We want pro-growth tax reform that will get the economy going, that will get people back to work, that will give middle-income taxpayers a tax cut and that will put American businesses in a better competitive playing field so that we keep American businesses in America,” the Wisconsin Republican told Associated Press reporters and editors. “That is more important than anything else.”

Ryan’s comments signaling possible retreat on a core GOP commitment came amid quickening action on taxes, which Republicans view as their last, best chance to notch a significant accomplishment to take to voters in the 2018 midterm elections.

Ryan also said he believes the president “made the right call” when he announced he would give Congress six months to figure out what to do with former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program before dismantling it.

Ryan said deporting hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought into the country illegally is “not in our nation’s interest,” as he and President Donald Trump prepared to huddle with top Democrats to try to hash out a legislative fix.