Democrats are counting on their energized base to rise up against and protest the Republican tax bill, in the same way that it worked to defeat the Republican healthcare bill this year.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday that outside action against the tax bill began early this week when Democrats around the country held a weekend of action, including rallies in several cities. They also gathered in front of the Capitol on Wednesday on the eve of the House’s passage of the tax bill.
“I’m very proud of what has happened leading up until now. We had action weekend last week where scores of members and candidates pointed out the bad vote that the Republicans would be making on this, and that was across the country,” Pelosi said at her weekly press conference. “They’ll see more of that.”
In particular, Democrats are banking on the decision by Senate Republicans to include a provision in their bill that would repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty, which Democrats say would cut the number of insured people by 13 million. Republicans, however, argue the mandate would save upwards of $330 billion, as the Congressional Budget Office estimated, and that it would be one less tax for individuals to pay.
“The fact that the Senate now is putting in essentially a repeal of a large part of the Affordable Care Act has so energized the outside, and, as you know, that mobilization was essential to our defeating their attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act,” Pelosi said.
“You will see a great deal of activity springing from this vote,” she added. “The Senate has really electrified, energized the base even further than before when we were really proud of what happened last weekend … So there will be outside mobilization.”
Outside Groups, including MoveOn.org, are urging people to call their member of Congress and senators in opposition to the bill. Organizing for Action, the super PAC that buoyed former President Barack Obama during his presidency is planning a day of action on Nov. 28, right as members return to Washington after the Thanksgiving recess.
American Bridge is planning to re-up a national buy for a digital ad they released Wednesday that focuses on the bill’s impact on outsourcing.
Democrats are expected to speak out against the bill when they return from recess. By that point, they are cautiously optimistic the intensity against the bill from their base will be in full swing.
“I still feel like we’re pretty early though,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., who added that healthcare fight played out over a longer period of time than the battle over tax reform. “Clearly, things have been moving quicker on tax reform. The intensity has been pretty high in terms of the number of calls I’ve gotten to my office, but I think now once you see something passing one chamber, it becomes more real in voters eyes.”
Democrats realize there is not much they can do procedurally to keep the bill from passing since Republicans control the House and the Senate and can pass the bill with only Republican votes in the Senate. But they said they would keep Democrats energized nonetheless in the hopes they can make their case to the public.
“Any inside maneuvering that we do to keep our caucus unified and the rest and make our statements here is very important. But without outside mobilization… ” Pelosi said with a pause before quoting Abraham Lincoln. “Public sentiment is everything.”
