Politics

EXCLUSIVE: Big Business Pushing GOP Tax Bill In Battleground States

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The largest manufacturing association in America is rolling out a tax reform ad campaign Thursday targeting key battleground states leading into the November election.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) released a video Thursday morning that will run in states featuring hotly-contested House races–Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. NAM is coupling those efforts with a digital ad campaign, hoping to sell voters on the benefits tax reform has brought to American manufacturing, workers and the economy.

WATCH: 

The video kicks off with a flashback to a speech from President Donald Trump, where he told the American people tax reform would be “rocket fuel” for the U.S. economy. The remainder is a collage of clips reminiscing on the days and months since Trump signed the GOP tax bill into law in December 2017.

Voters will see clips of AT&T, Starbucks and other major American companies announcing they would increase wages, benefits and investment in response to tax reform. They will also see manufacturing workers thank the president for the tax bill.

The Daily Caller News Foundation was unable to obtain the exact or ballpark amount NAM is spending on the ad buy.

Thursday’s rollout is only the latest in a stream of moves from the organization leading up the midterms. NAM announced on Tax Day that it was releasing stories of manufacturers explaining the impact tax reform has had on their business. Additionally, NAM backed that campaign with a targeted digital ad campaign in battle ground states, featuring stories from Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Florida and others.

TheDCNF sat down with NAM Board Chair and Emerson CEO and Chairman David Farr in October 2017 to discuss his organization’s role in tax reform and why it was pushing so hard to get it through Congress.

Farr worked with the president in the lead up to tax reform and continues to work with Congress, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee last week on how the reforms are growing the economy.

NAM isn’t the only group trying to sell tax reform.

The Millennial-focused arm of Charles and David Koch’s libertarian network also launched an ad campaign to sell young Americans on the benefits of the 2017 GOP tax reform bill in April.

Generation Opportunity, a Millennial-focused Koch-backed organization, told TheDCNF in April that it was spending under a million on the ad. The group wants it to not only to spark young folks’ interest in tax reform but hopefully entice them to reach out to their representatives and ask that they make the tax reforms “permanent.”

House and Senate Republicans are hoping the tax bill will help them keep the majority in both chambers, although the House is in a uniquely difficult position, given that 47 GOP members have announced their  retirements, resignations and or are moving on to other office.

Republican tax cuts are expected to grow the economy over the next two years, leadership has repeatedly claimed. Real GDP will expand 3.3 percent in 2018 and 2.4 percent in 2019. Starting in 2020, those gains are expected to taper off. The CBO expects real GDP to grow 1.8 percent in 2020, continuing at an average annual rate of 1.7 percent from 2020-2026.

While the deficit remains a concern, the tax bill has shown and is expected to avail some other net-benefits for the American people. Hundreds of corporations and small businesses announced bonuses and wage increases following the bill’s signing last December, although many have decried the moves as simply a public relations stunt.

Americans filed their final tax returns under the old tax code this year. Next year will kick off the first litmus test for voters and politicians as to how effective the tax cuts will end up being.

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