The Commander
Decision under pressure, front of house, leads visibly from the front.
Jason Smith wears The Commander archetype naturally. As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, he operates at the sharp end of consequential fiscal decisions, driving tax legislation and budget negotiations where stakes run high and coalitions fray easily.
“So I changed how we run the Ways and Means Committee from my very first committee hearing. My first committee hearing as chairman was not in Washington.”
“Exactly right. The first thing and his first priority was permanency of his expiring 2017 tax cuts. And some of the main items that were expiring was all the individual rates would go up. This makes the current rates that you're paying taxes right now will stay the current rates, regardless of what tax bracket that you're in.”
“Pretty close to that since we're using the rules of reconciliation, which is a tool to help the Senate get the 51 votes to pass any legislation, there's certain parameters that we have to fall under. We had to pass the budget resolution.”
“So we had the big six meetings, which was referred to as the Speaker of the House, the leader of the Senate, so Mr. Thun, also Chairman Crapo of the Finance Committee, myself. It had Kevin Hassett, economic advisor, and then also the Treasury Secretary Besson. And so the six of us met quite often.”
The David Rubenstein Show: “Jason Smith”
LISTEN AT THE SOURCE ↗THE RECORD IS CHECKABLE