The DC Democrats Are Against Tax Reform – Period

The DC Democrats Are Against Tax Reform – Period

Tax reform is a terribly difficult process.  The tax code represents power for those in Congress – pure and simple. Asking Washington to reduce its power rarely works.

The problem for Democrats is that refusing to approve of tax reform puts them squarely against the American people.  Indeed, the party pf tax cuts is usually the successful party.

From Reagan to Obama’s first term, the winning presidential candidate always touted some level of tax cuts in his campaign.  It wasn’t until Reagan did so that Republicans broke the lock Democrats had on the House and the Senate that endured more or less since the 1950s.

When Bush 43 ran against Al Gore, the Republicans had pushed tax reform legislation and Gore and almost all Democrats lined up against it.  Bush 43 won.

The Republicans and Democrats are doing the same thing today.

The Hill Newspaper characterizes the Democrat opposition as follows: “The Democrats’ blanket opposition will likely be inconsequential in the near term.”

In the near term, it is inconsequential because it is assumed Republicans can pass a bill on their own.

In the long term, if Republicans pass tax reform, they will benefit politically from the improving economy and will be able to say the Democrats were against tax reform.  If they fail to pass it, they will be able to run stating the Democrats were against it in unison.

In plain terms, the Republicans will be better off it passes – as will the country. Explaining why you couldn’t is never as easy and benefitting from why you did.