The Democrats Never Had a Plan to Defeat Trump’s Tax Plan

Submitted by David O’Hara

For the article website go to https://medium.com/@nicklicata/the-democrats-never-had-a-plan-to-defeat-trumps-tax-plan-fc3e2f9c986c

The Democrats let President Trump define the playing field for the Tax Reform Game. They fell short in imagination; they didn’t offer a plan that would have forced the Republican’s to debate the merits of their plan versus a Democratic alternative. Instead, Democrats relied on a strategy of “resistance” rather than on “leadership.”

Democrats endlessly criticized the Republican tax plan’s content. They said it gave too much money to the wealthiest, took away health benefits from those most in need, piled up national debt that would burden future generations, couldn’t guarantee job creation and finally their tax plan was too long at 1,000 pages to be properly evaluated in less than a week. Each of these criticisms was well backed up with facts. But as Hillary Clinton learned on election night facts are not enough.

Facts only count when they are used to power an alternative solution to overcome one being presented by your opposition. In this case, the Democrats did not offer a visible and tangible alternative to Trump’s tax plan. The Republicans and Trump simply attack the reliability of the objections. This is clearly seen when Trump tells reporters that the standard Democratic sound bite is about how his tax package only benefits the wealthy rather than how it is a great Christmas gift to middle-income people.

There are millions who feel that the Republicans at least are offering a plan that is worth pursuing. They offer the hope of tax relief; the Democrats offer nothing in the form of legislation that provides better relief. They were never in the playing field, they were yelling from the sidelines, or more accurately encouraging the public to send waves of phone calls and emails criticizing the tax bill. Many did but the Congressional Republican ranks did not to crumble.

So was Sen. Bernie Sanders correct when he said lawmakers “did everything that we could” as he told CBS’s “Face the Nation”. He may have, and the public may have, but the Democratic Party formal leadership, which does not include Sen. Sanders, did not. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn accused Democrats of not participating with the Republicans to make their plan better. Of course they would not help the Republicans write Trump’s tax plan. How could they, since all of the decisions had to be approved by the Republican caucus which the tea party oriented Freedom Caucus holds as hostage.

What would a Democratic alternative tax plan have looked like? It would have focused on a few key changes to the current tax system that could be easily understood and explained, and provide immediate tax relief to working families. To counter arguments that they would just push for greater government debt, the Democrats could have adopted the same restriction that the Republicans used: no more than $1.5 trillion in debt. The CBO would most likely have reported back saying it was more balanced than the Republican tax plan because it put more money into the hands of consumers not investors; consumers create jobs, not investors, consumers drive the economy not investors.

The Democrats would have gotten more middle class support and pumped more money into the economy than the Republican plan by simply increasing the standard family deduction higher than the Republican proposal. The public could choose between the Republican and Democratic plan on that issue. Want to bet, which would win?

Second, they could have altered the ACA (Obamacare) in a way that lessened the financial burden on those not wanting to get insurance, without destroying the system. Democrats have been discussing such a change for some time, but they gave up that initiative, and opened the door for the Republican’s blunt hammerhead approach. This Democratic lead change could have taken the steam out of the Republican’s sloganeering.

Finally, they could have nudged the corporate rate down by 5% not 15% for smaller businesses, and tied it to be triggered when the national corporate profits index dipped to a lower level, like it was for instance in the last recession. Corporate profits are now near an all time high. The public could understand that comparison. The Democratic message is have a tax cut that is a fair and efficient use of public funds. It would have put the burden on the Republicans to explain why their approach made more sense. And it would counter the Republican message that Democrats are anti-business or want to stall the economy.

It looks like the Republicans will pass their tax measure on Tuesday, December 19th. Whether they do or don’t, the Democrats must not walk away from tax reform. They don’t need a 1,000-pages to write these changes. They can always move to amend the tax code, but they need a plan to propose. Complaining how the Republicans are making the rich richer is not a plan of action and not going to motivate voters. The Democrats need to go beyond resisting, they need to lead by presenting solutions, that are clear, easily understood and immediate.