Republicans have yet to unveil their tax reform plan, but that isn’t stopping Democrats from readying their message: Stop calling it tax reform and call it a scheme for the rich.
In a full court press Wednesday, Democratic outside group American Bridge launched a national ad on Facebook, and distributed a memo to Democrats telling them how to frame the tax proposal Republicans are expected to drop in the coming days.
And when it leaked that President Trump told congressional leaders he wants the tax reform bill to be named the “Cut, Cut, Cut Act,” American Bridge scooped up two domains: Cutcutcut.org and CutcutcutAct.org. They’ll redirect to a fact sheet on their website attacking the GOP tax plan and President Trump’s economic record.
Democrats want to recreate the energy they did around Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, but this time around with taxes — a heavier lift given the complexity of the issue.
“In the same way that the healthcare debate hurt Republicans across the board, the fight over this tax plan has the potential to create an electoral environment ripe for Democratic gains next year, and we have to capitalize on the moment now,” reads the memo, first provided to the Washington Examiner.
Democrats’ ability to win back majorities in Congress depends largely on how effectively they can communicate their economic agenda. And if Republicans find a way to coalesce around a tax reform proposal, Democrats are going to use it to pit Trump against the populist wave he road into the White House.
“The tax debates give Democrats a chance to win back voters we lost last year because they mistakenly believed Trump was going to “drain the swamp” and bring back American jobs — a key group we must reconnect with in 2018 and 2020,” the memo states.
That means communicating to voters that the GOP plan is a tax cut for the rich and the loss of key deductions would result in higher tax bills for working families — a reversal of Trump’s promises on the campaign trail.
American Bridge in particular wants Democrats to hammer home the talking point that the GOP plan would incentivize the outsourcing of American jobs given Trumps’ repeated claims that he would bring jobs back to the U.S. from overseas.
The push is in concert with other Democratic groups and kicked off as congressional Democrats held multiple press conferences of their own on Wednesday to keep pressure on Republicans as they craft their plan. Democrats had difficulty rallying voters behind an economic message in 2016 and have admitted it will need to be a key element of their 2018 and 2020 efforts.
