6 months after tax cuts, Republicans tout soaring economy

It’s been six months since President Trump signed into law the biggest tax overhaul seen since Ronald Reagan was president -- and according to members of his administration, the benefits of less regulation and more corporate money are just beginning to trickle through the economy.

“If we look at the economic data, the big thing that we see is that the capital spending explosion that we predicted would happen, which is ultimately going to benefit workers because the jobs are coming home and wages are going up, is already happening,” Kevin Hassett, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, said during an interview with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo.

The $1.5 trillion cuts slashed the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% and temporarily lowered individual tax rates until 2025. In the wake of implementation of the tax overhaul, more than 430 companies have announced pay raises, bonuses or 401(k) hikes, benefiting more than 4 million Americans, according to the White House. And those aren’t the only statistics bolstering the Republican-endorsed tax bill: The U.S. labor market is the tightest it’s been in nearly two decades, with the national unemployment rate holding at a 17-year-low of 3.9%.

“The impacts on the economy from the president’s efforts to deregulate have been dramatic, and they’ve been quicker, because we can do a lot of that without congressional intervention,” Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney said on Friday.

While critics initially warned that Congress had no way to fund such a hefty cut in taxes, Mulvaney touted the fact that the U.S. Treasury took in half a trillion dollars in a single month in April, “the largest take by the U.S. Treasury ever.”

“I think you’re just starting to see the impact of the tax bill,” he said.