MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - First-term U.S. Rep. David Kustoff discussed tax cuts for corporations, repealing and replacing former President Obama’s health overhaul and Russia’s influence on the presidential election during a meeting with business leaders in Memphis on Thursday.
The Republican congressman in Tennessee’s 8th District spoke at a Memphis Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting. The former U.S. attorney easily won the race to replace Stephen Fincher in the heavily Republican district that includes urban Shelby County, where Memphis is located, and 14 mostly rural counties.
Kustoff, who serves on the House Financial Services Committee, said he expects a tax reform initiative to be rolled out in the next several months. He said he supports cuts to taxes on corporations, which he believes will keep companies from looking overseas to build and expand, and spur investment in counties where he claims economic growth has been stagnant.
“We’ve seen too many businesses, too many corporations, take a look at our corporate tax rate and say, ’Can’t deal with it, so we’re going to set up shop in Europe,’” he said.
Tennessee has been aggressive in trying to lure companies to build facilities such as factories and retail outlets. Those include Unilever, which makes ice cream in Covington, and Ikea, which recently opened a furniture store in the Memphis suburb of Cordova.
Lowering corporate tax rates will help attract more companies to invest in his district, he said. Kustoff said he also backs tax cuts for individuals.
“If more people have more money to put in their pocket, they’re going to do what? They’re going to invest it, they’re going to spend it, they’re going to put it in their 401ks,” he said. “We’re looking at a capital infusion.”
The congressman said he has received questions from constituents about President Donald Trump’s desire to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. He called the act a hindrance to West Tennessee’s economy that has led to higher rates and deductibles.
He noted that companies such as BlueCross BlueShield and Humana have pulled out of ACA exchanges in Tennessee, leaving consumers with few or no choices for health care under the Affordable Care Act.
“President Obama’s health care plan is on the way to a death spiral,” he said.
Kustoff said he would like the ability to buy health care across state lines.
“It would create competition,” he said. “With competition, you have pressure on the premiums, you have pressure on the deductibles, to move downward.”
Meeting with reporters after the speech, Kustoff discussed accusations that Russia interfered in last year’s U.S. presidential election.
“I don’t think they were involved in tampering with our ballot boxes here in Shelby County or in West Tennessee,” he said. “But did they promote fake news? I’m sure.”
Kustoff was noncommittal when asked about whether he plans to hold a town hall meeting in the near future. Some Republican members of Congress have been criticized for not holding town hall-style meetings, where voters can voice concerns and ask questions in an open public forum.
He said he has been meeting regularly with select groups about important topics in his large district, including a group of African-American people who asked him about health care, and the Lions Club.
When asked about scheduling a town hall meeting, he said: “I’ve had those. The fact is I just haven’t had them where people are being disruptive or disagreeing for the purpose of disagreeing.”
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