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JD Vance urges Republican voters to 'talk to your friends' about the 'big, beautiful bill'
JD Vance urges Republican voters to 'talk to your friends' about the 'big, beautiful bill'

Yahoo

time17-07-2025

  • Business
  • Yahoo

JD Vance urges Republican voters to 'talk to your friends' about the 'big, beautiful bill'

WEST PITTSTON, Pa. — Vice President JD Vance gave an early glimpse Wednesday of the argument Republicans will make ahead of the 2026 midterm elections while touting the megabill the White House pushed through Congress. In a 20-minute speech in northeast Pennsylvania, Vance urged the audience to become fellow evangelists for what he called the "big, beautiful bill" in conversations with family and friends. Vance supplied the talking points he wants them to use, describing how workers at the machine shop that hosted his appearance will no longer pay taxes on overtime pay. Vance was silent about less popular facets of what had been a nearly 900-page bill. He did not mention, for example, steep cuts to Medicaid, which provides health coverage to low-income people. A report published Wednesday in JAMA Health Forum found that the cuts could lead to 1,000 more deaths a year. And while Vance said President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are getting 'Washington spending under control,' the nation's debt will increase by $3.3 trillion over the next decade under the legislation, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Vance invited the audience to do its own research but asked it to 'take what I said and ... go talk to your neighbors, go and talk to your friends about what this bill does for American citizens.' Without explicitly mentioning the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, Vance said, 'We don't want to wake up in a year and a half and give the Democrats power back.' Both parties are in the opening phase of a battle to shape voter impressions of the new law ahead of the midterms. Trump's Cabinet members are expected to travel the country in the coming months to help sell the bill to voters. Introducing Vance was Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration. She used her speech to promote the law, calling it 'rocket fuel for small business.' Republicans face some headwinds in selling the legislation. A recent Economist/YouGov survey taken after Trump signed the bill on July 4 found that 35% of adults supported it, compared with 53% who were opposed. The White House needs GOP voters to be enthusiastic about the law and motivated to vote next year if the party hopes to hang on to its majorities in the House and the Senate. 'The Trump voters are happy and complacent right now,' said John McLaughlin, a Trump pollster. 'And we have to get them fired up for next year. We have a lot of work to do. If President Trump is not on the ballot, it's harder to get them out.' Vance's appearance was also an investment of sorts in his own political future. Pennsylvania is a perennial battleground state. Trump lost it in 2020 when he lost to Joe Biden but won it back last year when he was elected to a new term. Vance is a likely GOP candidate in the next presidential race — a prospect that voters interviewed before his speech said they welcome. Dwayne McDavitt, 63, of the group Bikers for Trump, said: 'I love JD Vance. I hope he runs in 2028. He's a very intelligent man.' Vance said nothing about the ongoing furor that threatens to divide Trump voters: The Justice Department's finding that the Jeffrey Epstein files include no 'incriminating 'client list'' or evidence that would implicate third parties. Many hard-core Trump have balked at the claim, while Trump has called upon them to drop the subject and stop talking about Epstein. Before Vance's appearance, supporters waiting in line offered mixed views of whether they believe the Trump administration is suppressing damning information involving Epstein. Steven Taylor, a truck driver living across the street from the machine shop, said he was 'angered' when Trump said people should move on from the Epstein controversy. 'I think we're being lied to,' said Taylor, 52. 'And I don't appreciate it. This is supposed to be the era of transparency.' 'We put our trust in him [Trump],' he continued. 'I'm still going to support him, but with a slanted eye. We're the ones who put him where he is. It's totally disrespectful.' But Richard Geiersbach, 66, a contractor wearing a MAGA hat, echoed a point that Trump has been making in recent days: Epstein isn't worth discussing anymore. 'It's a waste of time, a waste of money,' he said. 'Let it go.' This article was originally published on

Johnson says megabill will be 'jet fuel' for economy; teases 2 future bills within next year
Johnson says megabill will be 'jet fuel' for economy; teases 2 future bills within next year

Fox News

time06-07-2025

  • Business
  • Fox News

Johnson says megabill will be 'jet fuel' for economy; teases 2 future bills within next year

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday that President Donald Trump's megabill will be "jet fuel" for the economy despite Democrats' criticisms. Johnson, who ceremoniously handed Trump the gavel after the president signed his signature tax cuts and spending package into law Friday, teased two future bills to be passed within the next year. In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," he said the "big, beautiful bill," which is "a huge leap forward for our priorities," is the first step in a three-tier strategy. Johnson expects a second reconciliation bill by fall and a third by spring before the end of the current Congress. "I think we can do that, and so you'll see more of us advancing these common-sense principles to deliver that American First agenda for the people," Johnson said. "That's what they elected us to do, and this was hugely forward." Johnson pushed back on a reported Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) memo claiming Republicans will lose the majority in 2026 as a result of the "big, beautiful bill." "Our Republicans are going to be out across the country telling the simple truth, and guess what? It will be demonstrated," Johnson said. "Everyone will have more take-home pay, they'll have more jobs and opportunity. The economy will be doing better, and we'll be able to point to that as the obvious result of what we did. So don't buy into those false talking points." The speaker dismissed criticisms from Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and DNC Chair Ken Martin in particular as "old, tired talking points" that are typically used against any Republican tax legislation. Johnson stressed that the bill permanently extends the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which the speaker claims targeted lower- and middle-income Americans. He said the bottom 20% of earners witnessed their lowest federal tax rates in 40 years because of those original cuts and said that the new megabill expands on that by cutting taxes on tips, overtime pay, and seniors – benefits that he says will help Republicans during the 2026 midterm elections. "We're giving everybody a tax cut," Johnson told "Fox News Sunday" host Shannon Bream. "And that's going to help the economy, it's going be jet fuel. Small business owners, entrepreneurs, risk-takers, the people that provide the jobs, manufacturers, farmers get assistance here, and that will lift the economy." Citing the Council of Joint Economic Advisers, Johnson said the megabill will spur 3% economic growth, create 4 million jobs and increase the average household's take-home pay by $13,000. "This is a great thing for people who go to work every day," Johnson said. "They're going to feel that. And we're excited about the upcoming election cycle in '26. Because people will be riding an economic high, just as we did after the first two years of the first Trump administration. This time it's on steroids." Johnson also responded to criticism from Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., who argued that the megabill makes tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans permanent, while those for the working class "are time sensitive" and "expire in a couple of years." "Now, I don't think he read the bill, it's 940 pages, so I would give some grace on that," Johnson said in response to Ivey's claims. Bream noted that Ivey was listening while the bill text was read on the Senate floor last Sunday. "Yeah, you're right, for 19 hours or whatever it took," Johnson said. "If you make between $30,000 and $80,000 a year, you can have a 15% less federal tax rate. You're going to save more money, you're going to keep more of your hard-earned money, and that's not going away. So by making all these tax cuts permanent, it's the largest tax bill, the most important, most consequential tax bill that Congress has ever passed because of what it does for people who go out and work hard every day." Johnson said the bill pushes "pro-growth policies" and constitutes the "largest savings for the taxpayers in U.S. history." "In the bill, we're also going to secure the border permanently. We're going to return to American energy dominance again, which is going to also be jet fuel to the economy," Johnson said. "We're gonna take care of peace through strength because we're going to give important investments in our military industrial complex, which will help us in our competition with China. There is so much in this bill."

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