Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, who late last week conceded in a CNBC interview that deep thinking on economics is not his primary strength (he holds a doctorate, though, in British history and tracks on his House member website his personal reading list), was asked early Tuesday on MSNBC to explain GOP willingness to vote for a tax overhaul variously estimated to add, over a 10-year period, between $1.5 trillion and $2.2 trillion to the federal deficit.
His response:
Challenged on the claim by “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough, who’d noted that he and Cole share conservative bona fides and deficit concerns, Cole said “outside the 10-year budget window” the mounting deficit may look less dire, but in any event entitlement spending — Cole listed Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — needs to be reformed.
As to his admission that dissecting the tax bill was outside his wheelhouse — “I can’t tell you,” he told CNBC’s John Harwood, “that I’m a deep economic thinker” — Cole said he was comfortable accepting the guidance of fellow Republicans with whom he aligns philosophically, and who are attuned to Wall Street, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, of whom Cole said:
He conceded in that interview that the continued preferential treatment of so-called carried interest in the final version of the bill "just seems wrong” and that “more populist victories,” as opposed to wins for private-equity firms and others, would have been a “better” outcome.
Tuesday afternoon, Cole voted for the bill, which cleared the House on a 227-203 vote, with a dozen Republicans joining all of the chamber’s Democrats in voting “no.”