You can thank Larry Kudlow, the newly appointed chief economic adviser to President Trump, if you got an additional $1,000 bonus, since he was partly architect of the president’s tax cut policy during the campaign.
So it was a pleasure to talk with Kudlow on Friday to see what’s next on his radar as he steps back into the White House, where he was once part of Ronald Reagan’s economic team.
Kudlow wants to see the Trump tax cuts for individuals and small business deductions become permanent. His ultimate goal is to get the corporate tax rate down to 15 percent from the current 21 percent.
Getting these items through Congress will be tough sledding, with or without the razor-thin margin the Republicans have today — although a rollback or the elimination of SALT deductions would definitely swing some Democratic votes.
It was very clear from our conversation that Kudlow and the president are on the same page: They are both on a mission to fix the economy.
Kudlow told me that “from almost Day One of the campaign,” he and the president “saw eye to eye on the need for the growth of prosperity for all Americans across the country,” which has been suppressed over the last decade.
Kudlow was immediately thrown into the mix with China and tariffs, an issue on which he initially openly — but graciously — disagreed with the president. But he likely persuaded the president to not tariff all steel imports — only those of the serial abusers, like China.
Stop and think for a minute: When was the last time a leading economist or policy person disagreed with a president’s plan and was then hired?
Never. That says something about Trump. He isn’t afraid of differing opinions to get to a better final product.
Kudlow is smart, classy and tough in a confident way, and he was my first choice for the job — not Gary Cohn.
Kudos to Kudlownomics! He’ll be there to help all Americans.