NBC host Matt Lauer asked Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to literally raise his right hand on Thursday and promise that President Trump's tax reform plan is revenue and deficit neutral.
Mnuchin appeared on "The Today Show" to discuss Trump's ambitious tax proposal, which significantly lowers tax rates for corporations and small businesses, lowers individual rates, decreases the number of income tax brackets from seven to three, and eliminates certain taxes like the death tax and the alternative minimum tax.
As Lauer noted with his question, critics charge that the plan favors the wealthy and will explode the deficit.
"Without getting overly dramatic then, Mr. Secretary, would you be willing to raise your right hand and look at the American people and say I, Steven Mnuchin, promise you that this will be revenue neutral and deficit neutral?" Lauer asked.
"Again, our objective, Matt, is to pay for this with economic growth," Mnuchin said. "So right now we're working with the House and the Senate. This is now about taking the president's principles and turning them into a bill that we can get passed and the president can sign this year so we can create economic growth."
"We're going to work closely with Congress to get this done," he continued. "Matt, yes, our principles are we want to pay for this with economic growth, and with reducing lots and lots of special interest deductions."
Trump's plan also roughly doubles the standard deduction for married couples from $12,700 of their income to $24,000. It eliminates all individual tax deductions except those for charitable giving and mortgage interest.