WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, today spoke with Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent about the importance of reducing sky-high spending, protecting whistleblowers at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and responding to congressional oversight.
Video and excerpts of his questions follow.
Debt and Deficits are a Spending Problem
“My Democrat colleagues believe the only solution to our unsustainable debt and deficits is higher taxes on job creators and families. However, history proves that high tax rates fail to raise significant revenues. Taxpayers, workers and investors are smarter than we are. We’ve had a 93-percent marginal tax rate—then 70 percent, 50 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent and so on. But, regardless of the rate, we’ve brought in about the same amount of revenue.
“On the other side of the ledger, federal spending is at levels we’ve never seen outside of war and recession – and still growing.
“Isn’t it true that our fiscal imbalance is primarily a spending problem, not a revenue problem?”
“While I oppose tax hikes on individuals, families and small businesses, I’ve long championed sensible policies geared toward shutting down tax loopholes and providing tools to the IRS to detect tax cheats.
“A prime example is the IRS whistleblower law I authored in 2006, which has brought in over $6 billion to the Treasury. This program could raise billions more if used by the IRS to its full potential.
“Should you be confirmed, can I count on you to be supportive of the whistleblower program and work to ensure it’s used to its full potential?”
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