Zero Hedge
October 18, 2017
Barely a day after Gary Cohn told an audience at the annual meeting of the American Bankers Association that Congress has a “unique opportunity” to pass tax reform by the end of the year, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – who shares responsibility for the administration’s tax agenda alongside Cohn – acknowledged the truth about Trump’s No. 1 legislative priority: namely, that it would be “extraordinary” if the Republicans could pass tax reform by year’s end.
At a Tuesday press conference, Mnuchin borrowed a line from his boss and reminded his audience that it took a couple of years for Ronald Reagan to pass tax reform, in the process risking the end of the bull run that yesterday carried the Dow above 23,000, a rally that has largely been predicated on investors’ hopes for tax reform, according to the Hill.
“It took Ronald Reagan over two years on a bipartisan basis to get tax reform done,” Mnuchin said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier. “If we get it done this year, it will be extraordinary.”
“Our objective is to get it on the President’s desk by December to get him to sign it this year,” Mnuchin added, but cautioned that there’s “no artificial deadline.”
“We are going to work on it as fast as we can,” the Treasury secretary added.
Mnuchin called the GOP plan to reform the tax code critical to creating a “competitive” environment for American businesses.
On Monday, Trump made similar remarks at a press conference with Mitch McConnell that was, somewhat ironically, intended to address concerns that the fractured Republican leadership might bungle tax reform like they bungled Obamacare repeal. At the conference, Trump surprised reporters by admitting that Congress still has a “long way” to go on tax reform.
“I would like to see it be done this year,” Trump said. “But…