The five candidates during Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate in Miami were each asked what they would do on their first day in office to help ease the rising cost of living for Americans.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, was the only one who brought up tax cuts.
"I can tell you what we're seeing now in America is the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer," Haley said. "We have to go and start beefing up the middle class, and the first thing I will do is I will eliminate the federal gas and diesel tax in this country. We'll cut taxes on the middle class.
"But we have to stop the spending binge that's happening by Republicans and Democrats in Congress. I'll make sure, one, we claw back the $500 billion of unspent COVID dollars that are out there. Instead of 87,000 IRS agents going after middle America, we'll go after the hundreds of billions of dollars of COVID fraud that exists, 1 out of every $7. We'll stop the spending, we'll stop the borrowing, we'll eliminate the earmarks, and I'll veto any spending that doesn't go back to pre-COVID levels. That will cut trillions and allow us to be safe.
"We also need to be, not energy independent [but] energy dominant. We are blessed with resources. Let's do it."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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