Sen. McCaskill: GOP tax-cut law may not benefit working Americans

Hours before President Donald Trump trumpeted an improving economy in his State of the Union speech, Missouri�s Democratic U.S. senator expressed concern GOP tax cuts may not help working Americans in the long run.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill answered questions from reporters on a wide range of issues during a conference call Tuesday.

Some major employers such as AT&T issued bonuses to employees after Trump signed the tax measure into law.

But McCaskill, who voted against the tax plan, said the United States has �lost thousands and thousands of jobs even from the companies that are talking about their bonuses.�

McCaskill told reporters �we are continuing to see very meager wage growth.�

While Trump has touted the health of the stock market as proof of the success of tax cuts, McCaskill said 40 percent of the stock market is owned by the wealthiest people.

She said it is too early to tell whether any of the tax cuts will benefit American workers.

�So I think it is too early for the president to take a victory lap,� McCaskill said.

She added, �I hope that this is the first time in history that trickle down (economics) works. I am just skeptical.�

McCaskill said it is sometimes hard to tell where Trump stands on an issue.

�There has been such a lack of consistency as to policy positions that this president has taken,� she said.

The senator, who has been working with moderate Republicans and Democrats in Congress, said she expects lawmakers will reach a budget deal to avert a government shutdown in February.

She said it is important �to get our budget done� and protect people living in the country illegally known as �Dreamers� who came to this country as children.

McCaskill criticized the president for not enforcing sanctions on Russia. Legislation to impose sanctions passed Congress by a 517 to 5 vote, she said. Trump signed the bill.

But she said �he is ignoring the bill even though we have evidence that Russia continues to engage in our political system and is trying to continue to influence elections, not just in this country but around the world.�

She said the Trump administration has cast blame on the operations of the FBI and not shown a desire to tackle Russian involvement in our elections.

�It is outrageous,� she said.

McCaskill charged that Trump is going after the special counsel and FBI in their efforts to investigate Russian meddling.

�He is clearly trying to impact the people whose only job is to investigate the facts and apply the law,� she said. �We really need to separate politics from law enforcement.�

mbliss@semissourian.com

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