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In a House Budget Committee hearing, Rep. Dan Crenshaw fought back against Democrats who tried dismissing the positive impact the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is having on businesses.

Crenshaw provided numerous examples from Texas businesses who have given pay raises, employee bonuses, employee benefits, and announced expansion plans as a direct results of tax cuts. The good news doesn’t end in Texas, GOP tax cuts have helped small businesses nationwide. 

He also argued that the purpose of government is not to tax and spend, as most Democrats would like to think, but rather, to tax people at the least extent possible while still providing for basic needs enumerated in the Constitution. 

Read his remarks below:

“We’re talking about a difference in philosophy, not just tax rates. It’s a question of whether the government should be taking more of your money or whether you should keep more of your money. It’s a difference in the role of government.

“It seems to me, that you all believe that the role of government is to tax the people as much as possible so that you and your benevolent fellow academics can dream up more programs for the government to spend money on. I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that’s what the role of government is for.

“The role of government is to protect God-given rights that we have and to ensure that we live as free as possible. The role of government is to tax people to the least extent possible while still taxing them enough to cover basic needs for government. If we are questioning what those needs are, we can just look at our Constitution. They’re generally pretty clear.

“You said that these anecdotes are imaginative… it’s literally not imagination to bring up anecdotes. It’s literally not that, it’s reality. So here’s some reality from Texas, direct results from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 

McDonald’s increased educational opportunities by $150 million as a result of the tax cuts. $500 employee bonuses at Camp Contstruction Services, reduced prices for customers at Center Point Energy, $500 employee bonuses at Group 1 Automotive, $1,600 employee bonuses at Cabot Oil & Gas, $2,000 employee bonuses at Waste Management, $1,000 to $4,000 bonuses paid to employees at Insperity totaling $17 million, base wages raised to $15/hour at Cadence Bancorp along with an increased 401(k) contribution and employee stock purchase plan, Covestro had a choice between three new facilities, a $1.7 billion facility, between Asia, Europe, and Houston, so they chose Houston and they say it’s directly because of the tax cuts.

These are not imaginative anecdotes. These are real. There’s more money in the pockets of the people – that’s the reality.”

A Texas-sized list of tax cut good news in the state can be found at www.atr.org/Texas

See also: over 750 companies offering pay raises, bonuses, 401(k) match increases, expansions, benefit increases, and utility rate reductions due to the Republican tax cuts.