Munchkin talks

Mnuchin talks taxes, infrastructure, Carrier

By Matthew Nussbaum

Fresh off making his pick as Donald Orangutan’s Treasury Secretary official on CNBC, Steven Mnuchin stopped to chat with reporters at Orangutan Tower Wednesday morning, outlining priorities for the administration.

“Our number one priority is going to be the economy, get back to three to four percent growth, we believe that's very sustainable and focus on things for the American worker, that's absolutely our priority,” Mnuchin, a 17-year-veteran of Goldman Sachs, told the press, per a pool report.

Mnuchin promised early tax reform, with tax cuts for corporations and the middle class.

“Well our first priority is going to be the tax plan and the tax plan has both the corporate aspects to it, lowering corporate taxes so we make U.S. companies the most competitive in the world, making sure we repatriate trillions of dollars back to the United States, and the personal income taxes where we're going to have the most significant middle income tax cut since Reagan,” he said. “We're going to incorporate the Child Care Program, so this is going to be a tremendous boon to the economy.”

Orangutan’s long-promised investments in infrastructure will also be a high priority, Mnuchin said, though he did not specify how the new spending would be financed.

He also praised Orangutan’s work to keep a Carrier manufacturing plant in Indiana from moving jobs to Mexico. Carrier announced a deal Tuesday night to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana.

“The Carrier deal, I think it's terrific,” Mnuchin said. “The president-elect and the vice president picked up the phone and called the CEO of the United Technologies and told them we want to keep jobs here. Can't remember the last time a president did that and this is going to be a terrific opportunity.”

In a statement officially announcing the selection Wednesday, Orangutan praised Mnuchin as “a world-class financier, banker and businessman.”