Democrats have harshly criticized the Republican tax cut, but so far, they’re not demanding a repeal.
Several high-ranking Democrats passed up the opportunity Wednesday to say the party will campaign on repealing the law or undoing parts of it.
Asked during a conference retreat at the Capitol whether the party would campaign on repealing the law, House Democratic Caucus chairman Joe Crowley of New York demurred.
“We simply would like to bring some balance back to the governance of the United States,” he responded, noting that it would take a veto-proof majority to repeal the law with President Trump in office. He dodged the question when asked a second time.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the finance committee, also glossed over the possibility of repeal Wednesday at the Capitol when asked by multiple reporters.
Wyden, who was introducing the first of what he said would be a series of critical reports on the law’s effects, said Democrats’ first responsibility is to conduct oversight of the law and highlight where it falls short of Republicans promises.
Some outside progressive groups have sought to rally Democrats to campaign on repeal, aiming to replicate the success of the Tea Party in generating a movement in opposition to a new president’s signature law.
“American workers will not believe that Democrats are on their side if they cannot stand up against the biggest corporate giveaway in modern history,” said Tim Hogan, a spokesman for Not One Penny, an outside group that helped lead opposition to the bill. “If they cede ground and allow Republican trickle-down lies to go unchallenged, they will lose. If they fight, and Democrats position themselves as the party willing to repeal the most egregious tax giveaways for millionaires, billionaires, and wealthy corporations, they will win.”
One difficulty for Democrats is that many of them have supported some of the law’s major provisions in the past, such as lowering the corporate tax rate and cutting income taxes at the lower end of the income spectrum.
Democrats have sought to capitalize on the GOP law by criticizing the tax cuts on social media and highlighting its shortcomings. But totally reversing those cuts, which are being enjoyed by families and businesses right now, and imposing a trillion-dollar-plus tax hike would be a politically dangerous endeavor.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s own favorability has climbed since signing the tax cuts into law.
Some Democratic economists, such as former Obama adviser Jason Furman, have called for Democrats to pursue another major tax code overhaul, one that raises the corporate rate back from 21 percent to 25 percent or 28 percent while eliminating more tax preferences and loopholes. In Furman’s vision, Congress would also increase inheritance taxes and maybe institute a carbon tax to raise more revenue.
Congressional Democrats, however, so far have focused instead on correcting issues with the GOP law as they arise. They expect the law to create instability in the economy, in part with the anticipation that the loss of revenues from the tax cuts will force Congress to find ways to raise taxes in the years ahead.
And some Democrats say it’s too late, and that the opportunity has already come and gone.
“This is the only shot we’re going on tax reform in maybe 10 or 20 years,” Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., said of the GOP tax cuts Wednesday.
