MSNBC host Ali Velshi on Tuesday explained to Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) that assumptions Republicans are making in their tax reform plan are not based on facts.
During a Tuesday morning interview, Velshi pointed to a "very strange" claim made by President Donald Trump's administration, that cutting corporate taxes results in individual families "getting between $4,000 and $9,000."
"It's very hard for us to do the math to back that up," the MSNBC host noted.
Hoeven argued that Republicans are "using very conservative assumptions" to make that claim.
"What we're already seeing with the regulatory relief is the GDP in our country is already up to 3.1 percent," Hoeven said.
"It's 2.2 percent," Velshi interrupted.
"But it's consistently been coming up," Hoeven replied. "And now when you combine that with tax relief, you're going to see stronger economic growth."
"I just need to correct you there, Senator," Velshi interrupted again. "The longterm -- for 30 years or something -- it's been 2.1 percent or 2.2. That stuff the president says, it's not true."
Hoeven answered by reaching back to World War II for a time when economic growth was over 3 percent.
But Velshi wouldn't let him finish.
"We generally divide that up," the host said. "We end it in 1970 because we were building highways and we were busy building the roads [before 1970]. When you think about 1970 to now, it's 2.1 percent, sir."
"That's the point!" Hoeven insisted. "We want to get that growth rate up."
"But you understand that during the war and 1970 we were building the U.S. highway system," Velshi said. "We were creating all sorts of infrastructure. We build no federal infrastructure now in the United States at all. We were sort of shoring up the rest of the world."
"What's the driver?" Velshi added. "No taxes never drives growth. There's got to be something that actually drives economic growth."
