Ingraham: ‘There’s Going to Be Hell to Pay’ if Tax Reform Isn’t Done

LifeZette Editor-in-Chief Laura Ingraham said that President Donald Trump’s unexpected decision to cut a deal with Democratic leaders in Congress last week indicates “He’s willing to work with people even if they’re not all that nice to him,” speaking during an interview Tuesday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

Trump shocked and infuriated many congressional Republicans when he rejected Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) wishes by siding with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The deal resulted in moving the deadline for passing legislation on the federal debt ceiling to December 31 and included funds for Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts.

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“He flipped the script” in dealing with the Democrats, Ingraham said. “And that’s what we really have come to expect from him, all of us who covered the campaign.”

“The president did what he did during the campaign. He surprised people,” she added. “And I think it’s inspiring to see someone who’s — the old rules of Washington haven’t served the middle class very well. It hasn’t served the working people well. That’s why he ran. He ran for the forgotten man and woman.”

“And I think his decision to work with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi — who’ve said the most hateful things about him — says more about Donald Trump than it says about anything else,” Ingraham continued. “He’s willing to work with people even if they’re not all that nice to him.”

Trump’s decision to reach across party lines, she argued, is a testament to his background as a dealmaking businessman. And as president, Trump’s negotiating abilities should come in handy when working to advance the interests of the American people, Ingraham said.

“I think right now you see the president willing to reach across party lines when it’s in the nation’s interest to do so. And in this case, it is. So he’s doing that,” she said. “That’s all he can do as the chief executive officer, along with regulation, along with the executive orders that he’s deciding to do, and hiring great people.”

Trump is doing everything he can to advance his agenda as president of the United States of America without the help of congressional Republicans, Ingraham said. After the Senate’s embarrassing and repeated failure to repeal and replace Obamacare over the summer, many Americans doubt the GOP can pass tax reform.

“But if Republicans and Democrats see this opportunity and punt it, then I think all of their jobs are on the line. I think [that] a lot of primary challenges of Never-Trump Republicans and Never-Trump-agenda Republicans are in order,” she said, noting that Trump “wants results,” while Republicans “drag their feet.”

“And Donald Trump, I think, looked at the pieces on the chess board, and he said, ‘What move can I make?’ And he made the best move I think he could make,” Ingraham said of the deal with the Democrats. “I think it was actually politically genius of him to do what he did.”

The president plans to visit 13 states over the next seven weeks to promote his tax plan. But if the GOP can’t deliver on the tax reform need to give hardworking Americans a business relief and boost economic growth, “there’s going to be hell to pay,” she warned.

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“There’s going to be hell to pay if this tax overhaul in combination with a budget process which they’re working on today … there’s going to be hell to pay if this tax reform isn’t done and isn’t done well,” said Ingraham.

“Sometimes people just need to move on to another career,” she added. “If you’re not good at politics — and a lot of these people frankly are not, Donald Trump taught them a lot about politics — but if they’re not willing to learn, we need citizen legislators in place who actually want to get things done for the American people.”

Ingraham also pointed to the fiery interview former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon gave with CBS Sunday evening, in which he accused the GOP Establishment of “trying to nullify the 2016 election” and undermine the Trump agenda. Many Republicans complained about Bannon’s trashing of them.

“I’m sure they don’t want any scrutiny. I’m sure they don’t want to be held accountable,” she said of GOP Establishment Republicans. “I’m sure they just want to keep going along where they do these six-month continuing resolutions, where they don’t do normal course budgeting, where they don’t deliver on major tax overhaul, which we have not done in this country for three decades.”

“I’m sure they want to keep it all going. But guess what? We’re out of money, we’re $20 trillion in debt, and the nation rejected the old ways of Washington in November,” Ingraham added. “They rejected those ways. And Donald Trump’s, I think, right now, given everything that’s happened — there were some mistakes along the way in the beginning — but I think he’s well-positioned to go to the American people and make the case for pragmatic, pro-growth tax reform that will help all levels of income and help the country’s economy hum again.”