Larry Kudlow on Tax Cuts: 'Never Believe the CBO'

Nobody should believe the Congressional Budget Office, especially when it comes to tax cuts, because it's "always wrong," White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Tuesday.

"Never believe the CBO; it's very important," Kudlow told Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "Never believe them. They're always wrong especially with regard to tax cuts, which they never score properly because they don't understand the growth, the incentives and the encouragements to reward success."

According to the CBO, the tax cut bill passed in December will add another $1 trillion in debt, a claim Kudlow, who heads the White House’s National Economic Council, and others reject, saying the tax cuts will bring growth that offsets the deficit.

"The United States is already moving toward a 3 percent growth plan, Kudlow added. "I believe we will stay on that path, and maybe even better. So, I am just saying the CBO people are professionals. This is not a personal attack, but their track record on tax cuts is not good."

Economic growth, he continued, "is the mantra," and tax benefits will be spread across the income spectrum.

"You know, I'm old-fashioned," Kudlow said. "I'm a JFK tax-cutter. I'm a Ronald Reagan tax-cutter. A rising tide lifts all boats. We're starting to see an economic boom, an economic boom that will be probably be the best in a couple of decades. That is what the president was talking about yesterday. This is all good, all good. Every single working American, really, 155 million working men's will benefit from stronger growth and lower taxes."

Trump also said that this year will be the last that taxpayers will fill out complicated returns, but Kudlow joked that they'll fit on a postcard "if I have a large postcard."

The administration, though, is is continuing to work on simplification, as President Donald Trump is "very keen" on that.

"He is absolutely right," said Kudlow. "It is frustrating to taxpayers. But look, certainly awful, awful forms you have to fill out, complications and forth, that is the worst of that will be over. The worst of that will be over now."

In other matters, Trump will meet at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and steel and aluminum tariffs will be an "important issue" on the agenda.

"President Trump and Prime Minister Abe get along quite well," said Kudlow, but "It is going to be a lengthy discussion. It will be about the exclusions from the national security tariffs on steel. It will be about market opening initiatives by Japan. TPP will be on the conversation. China, North Korea. A very important meeting coming up."

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