When President Donald Trump signed the “one big beautiful bill” into law this month, he delivered one of the biggest wins for conservatives in the past 30 years, according to a free-market economist.
Former Trump economic advisor Stephen Moore praised the president for signing the measure that made many provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 permanent, while also delivering what he sees as underappreciated wins for the conservative movement.
“I’ve been in Washington since the early 1980s, so that’s a long period of time,” Moore said at an American Legislative Exchange Council conference on Thursday in Indianapolis. “Forty years I’ve been in the swamp. And I would have to say this is one of the greatest conservative triumphs in at least three decades in Washington. This is a very, very good bill.”
During his speech, Moore highlighted what he called some of the “hidden gems” of the bill.
One is the first-ever federally funded private school choice program; it lets taxpayers donate up to $1,700 annually to scholarship-granting organizations and receive a 100% federal income tax credit for their contribution.
Another he mentioned was the law’s expansion of health savings accounts.
Under it, more people can open and contribute to HSAs, including those in direct primary care arrangements, on low-tier Marketplace plans, or using telehealth before meeting their deductible. It also lets people use HSA funds to pay for direct primary care fees.
Moore noted this after mentioning how expensive healthcare is in the United States.
“It’s one of the biggest fiscal, economic issues for virtually every state and Washington and American families,” he said.
Additionally, Moore appreciated the bill killing green energy subsidies and incentives to buy electric vehicles.
“You can buy whatever car you want to!” he said. “This is America.”
He also strongly supports the work requirements placed on able-bodied Americans for Medicaid and food stamps. Moore said these requirements will reduce poverty.
“We’re not gonna let people go hungry in this country. We’re not gonna let them go homeless,” he said. “We’re not gonna let them suffer deprivation. But if you’re getting a handout from taxpayers, you’ve either got to be in a job or looking for a job, if you’re able-bodied, period.”
“The only way out of welfare is a job,” he added.
Moore also said that, despite disagreeing with Trump on tariffs, he’s optimistic about the economy thanks to this legislation.
“I’m super bullish right now, by the way, on the U.S. economy,” he said. “Now that we’ve gotten this bill through, I think it’s going to be an enormous stimulus.”
At the same conference, ALEC CEO Lisa Nelson also praised the Trump tax cuts.
She said they represented a continuation of the free enterprise system that she thinks has served the United States well.
“It was a huge win, but a win that may not grab the headlines that it deserves because it wasn’t about creating a brand-new policy. It was about protecting what was already working,” she said. “Without this victory, we would’ve faced the single largest tax hike in American history and that is not an exaggeration. That was what was coming.”
She also said it’s important for people to know the truth about the Trump tax cuts to build support for them.
“We can’t assume that people understand what happened, so it’s up to us to tell that story,” she said. “Remember what those tax cuts delivered. Jobs came back, energy prices dropped, wages rose and businesses had the freedom to expand.”
