Chris Wallace on 2018: ‘This Is Going To Be a Tough Election for Republicans’

LEVENTHAL: "Let’s bring in Chris Wallace now from “Fox News Sunday.” The president nearly euphoric today talking about the tax bill, calling it tremendous and incredible. He seemed proud. Is that well-deserved praise he’s giving to the bill?"
WALLACE: "It’s a big accomplishment for a president who didn’t have much in terms of bills being passed through Congress. This is after the failure on ObamaCare repeal and replace. So yeah, it’s a big deal. It’s a historically big tax cut and a dramatic reform of the tax system, especially on the corporate side more than the individual side. The political impact I think is still to be determined. You talked at the beginning, Rick, about the fact that there’s two different scenarios that are playing out, two very different arguments. Republicans are saying this is going to jet fuel the economy and will turn into higher wages and more jobs. We’ll see. As you point out, Democrats say that this is a bail-out for the rich and for big businesses. The interesting thing though is that I don’t think the narratives will matter much. In the end, people will see for themselves between now and early November when the mid-term elections take place, do they feel it in their paycheck each week. Do they feel it in terms of wages going higher and more jobs being created or not. So my guess is that this is a real world experience where people will see whether or not it changes their lives for the better and that will affect the long-term views for the tax bill."
LEVENTHAL: "And more than 80% of Americans will pay less taxes next year."
WALLACE: "Yeah. For a lot of people it’s a very small amount. Obviously everybody would like more money but for a lot of folks, it may be 50 or $75 extra a week, which isn’t going to make a dramatic difference in their lives. The real key to this, seems to me, is whether it jump-starts the economy. The corporate taxes. That’s the major change here. If we see a tremendous increase in growth and if that translates not to higher dividends or stocks buy-backs to help shareholders but in terms of more jobs, more investment, higher wages because there is more demand for a fairly statement and full employment work force, then that will have a dramatic effect on people’s lives and have a dramatic effect on the political fortunes of tax renorm. We’ll have to wait and see."