Lisa Desjardins:
You know, I have got to tell you, Amna, I have been to many of these retreats, and I don’t think I have ever been at one where the decisions here have had such high dollar figures and potentially such high, far-reaching effects to them.
So let’s look at this sort of massive fiscal goals that Republicans have here at this retreat. First, they want to extend the Trump tax cuts. That has a price tag of some $4 trillion and could affect every American either way, whether they’re extended or not, most every American. They also want to add to that a host of other tax cuts.
Remember, Trump on the campaign trail raised, for example, exempting tipped wages from tax cuts. Well, what we have here, what I have seen and other reporters have obtained, is a list, a menu of over 200 kinds of actions related to this tax cut agenda. That includes also how you might pay for those tax cuts.
So, going along with that, though, there are also some hurdles that Republicans face as well, including fiscal deadlines coming up quickly, including the funding of government. They also need the House and Senate to agree on an outline for spending. Deficits are climbing, about $700 billion just the first three months of this year.
And some of these ideas, cuts in particular to Medicaid, are tough politically, Amna. So they really have their work cut out for them. They all have to agree, and these are not easy things to figure out.
