A Georgetown student confronted Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) on Tuesday about her "crumbs" comments made when criticizing the tax reform law Republicans passed at the end of 2017.
"You’ve spoken about the effects of the Republican tax plan, specifically referring to its effects on average Americans as crumbs," the student said in comments first flagged by the NTK Network. "As the son of small business owners, I know that it’s helped my parent hire more employees. It’s helped us pay off our mortgage, helped put me through college."
The student asked Pelosi if she still thought "crumbs" was a good way to describe benefits resulting from the tax law.
"Would you still refer to the effects of this tax plan on average Americans as crumbs?" the student asked.
"Yes there are some benefits that some are feeling in a particular way," Pelosi responded. "My statement was really a fuller statement that says while they provide a banquet for the top one percent, they are giving some crumbs to other people."
Pelosi further claimed millions of middle class families will pay more in taxes as a result of the tax law.
"Here's a tax bill that they advertise as a benefit for the middle class, and did you know 83 percent of the benefits of the tax bill go to the top one percent?" Pelosi said. "In the life of the bill, 86 million middle class families will pay more taxes."
This is contrary to most analysis about the tax reform law. The Washington Post reported that most Americans would receive a tax cut.
A state-by-state analysis produced by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal-leaning group, show the vast majority will get some kind of tax cut in Missouri in 2019, but then as much of a third will experience tax increases in 2027. Even more striking is how even the tax cuts shrink. In the middle 20 percent of households, 90 percent would get an average tax cut of $830 in 2019 — compared to 60 percent getting an average tax cut of $100 in 2027, or about a quarter a day.
In order to pass the bill through the Senate without Democratic support, however, GOP lawmakers had to ensure the bill abided by Senate rules and would not add to the federal deficit outside of 10 years. The individual tax cuts were, as a result, scheduled to expire in 2025 with the intention that Congress would vote to extend the cuts before their expiration. Unless the individual tax cuts are made permanent, tax rates will increase for individuals in the year 2027.
In the past, Pelosi has stated that if the Democrats take back control of Congress, they will take a comprehensive look at the tax law.