WATERLOO — Rep. Rod Blum paid a visit Wednesday to Jerald Sulky Co. to tout the tax cuts he voted for last fall.
The event was organized by Job Creators Network, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., as part of its Tax Cuts Work campaign.
“I know how important the tax legislation is that’s been passed to create jobs and get our get our economy going again,” Blum said. “It’s working already. It hasn’t taken long. Business owners respond to incentives.”
Blum said finding workers is the biggest issue facing businesses in the 20 counties in northeast Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, which the Republican represents.
“The tax bill worked,” Blum said. “We just need more employees in Iowa.”
Blum encouraged companies to open businesses in Iowa.
“Do it! Go for it. It’s the American dream,” Blum said. “The economy is good. The biggest problem small businesses have is usually revenues, making sure they get revenues and sales, and the economy is good now.”
Before Blum’s appearance, protesters in three vehicles drove by with signs opposing the tax cuts. One truck sported a large inflatable chicken in the likeness of President Donald Trump.
Blum disputed arguments that the tax cuts haven’t saved money for middle-class Iowans.
“We have the statistics from the Congressional Budget Office that the average family in this congressional district is going to save $2,400 a year on their taxes,” Blum said. “If somebody out there is saying ‘Hey, the average family in this district isn’t going to get a tax cut,’ that is absolutely, patently false.”
He called opposition to the tax cuts — such as billboards erected in Cedar Rapids that say “Congressmen Blum raised your taxes” — politically motivated.
“It’s election season, so one must take that with a grain of salt,” Blum said. “I don’t pay much attention to politics, I’m doing this for what I consider are the right reasons, love of country. I don’t need to be doing this.”