It’s deja vu inside the Beltway. On Christmas Eve 2009, the Senate passed the Affordable Care Act without a single Republican vote. Just three months later, in March 2010, the ACA, better known as Obamacare, passed the House 219-212, again without one yes vote from the GOP. At the time, Democrats controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress. Holding the majority allowed Democrats to pass a signature policy agenda into law even though most in government did not have a chance to thoroughly review the contents of the bill they voted on. Does any of this sound familiar?
Fast forward to present-day Washington, D.C. It’s Christmastime 2017. The White House and both chambers of Congress are controlled by one party. The majority party presented a major piece of legislation. This time it’s not healthcare, but tax reform. Just two weeks after introduction and without any witness testimony hearings, the tax bill first passed the House with the votes of only one party. Later, it passed the Senate late at night, with votes only from majority members. The bill is more than 500 pages long. Senators did not get a chance to fully review its provisions before it came to the floor for a vote. Just as the Democrats passed Obamacare unilaterally, the GOP passed tax reform without a single Democrat supporting it.
Republicans in the year 2017 seem to operate just like 2010 Democrats. Party affiliation seems to have no bearing on this swamp behavior. During the Obamacare debate, it was the GOP who cried foul, shaking their fists at the Democratic majority for exploiting their power to push through a legislative agenda on their own. Today, the Democrats are complaining that the Republican majority is rushing tax reform through Congress without any Democratic votes or input.
Both parties seem to suffer from amnesia that just eight years ago their roles were reversed. The 2018 midterms may also prove to be a role reversal of sorts for Democrats and Republicans. In 2010, Obamacare became a flashpoint for the GOP. It allowed the Republicans to galvanize voters against Democrats with a narrative based on a fear of a government takeover of healthcare. Democrats lost their majority in Congress that year, in part because they lost the messaging war around the positive impacts of the ACA for families.
In 2018, Democrats could use the tax reform bill in the same way as Republicans used Obamacare almost a decade earlier. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that 55 percent of Americans oppose the tax bill that is perceived as a handout to big corporations. It seems that, at least for now, the Democrats are winning the messaging war around tax reform. If it sticks, the Democrats could see gains in the Senate and House, possibly taking the majority in one or both chambers. Only time will tell if Democrats and Republicans will switch roles again.
It is clear that no matter what party is in control, there needs to be a greater effort made to engage the minority party to produce a more balanced legislative product that members in both parties could be proud to support. More importantly, bringing all voices to the table helps ensure laws passed by Congress have a positive impact on the lives of the people they work for, the American public.
Capri Cafaro (@thehonorablecsc) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is the former Democratic leader of the Ohio Senate. She is now an executive in residence at American University’s School of Public Affairs.
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