Top Democratic lawmakers dismissed the White House tax reform package that was announced Wednesday as a plan that would increase the budget deficit, and lower tax rates most aggressively for the wealthy.
“What few details are here overwhelmingly cut taxes for the richest and do little for middle class Americans and those trying to get there,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Besides which, nowhere does President Trump indicate how his deficit-exploding tax plan will actually be paid for.”
“There is room for bipartisan tax reform, but it must be fiscally-responsible and it must not come at the expense of hard-working Americans,” she added.
“He promised tax reform to help middle America, to help the average worker, the average person in the United States,” said Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Democratic caucus. “So far, the only proposals we’ve seen are proposals to help the wealthiest in our nation. They talk about revenue neutral, initially here in the House, but not distributionally neutral.”
“And now the president has come out with a plan of 15 percent,” Crowley said referring to the proposed corporate tax rate. “A couple of sweeteners for Democrats, apparently, to entice us. But it’s a plan to help the wealthiest in the country, the wealthiest corporations in the world, at the expense of our nation’s deficit.”
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday that he hasn’t seen any details outside of reports, but echoed concern over Trump’s plan to not pay for the proposed tax cut. The White House says that those cuts will pay for themselves over time.
“All I know is what I read in the papers,” Durbin said. “Obviously, we are not a deficit-conscious Congress.”
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are getting on board with the White House’s push. Sen. Pat Toomey, who serves on the Senate Budget and Finance Committees, argued that the revenue that would be generated by they economy once it’s freed from higher taxes needs to be taken into account.
“Part of the problem is there’s a long history of joint tax and CBO not taking into account how dynamic the economy is. They grossly underestimated the revenue that the Reagan tax cuts would generate, for instance. They just don’t get this,” Toomey said. “To hold ourselves to a standard that is unrealistic about revenue is a bad idea.”
Other Republicans are relieved that the renewed push will not include a border adjustment tax, which Speaker Paul Ryan had been advocated for since January.
“It sounds good,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said referring to the White House plan. “I’m glad the border adjustment tax went away.”
The South Carolina Republican also added that he’d prefer the tax reform package to be done on a bipartisan basis and not through budget reconciliation, which would need only 51 votes in the Senate rather than 60 through a normal legislative proposal. He said he wants to tie tax reform and infrastructure in a bill in an effort to earn Democratic support.
