U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D. NY) is working overtime to stop this disaster from happening:
So far, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been very good at holding his caucus together. Most notably, Democrats stood as one against the GOP’s attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
The question is whether he can do it again on tax reform.
In August, Schumer wrote a letter to President Donald Trump and GOP leaders in the Senate about the Democratic conditions for working together on a bipartisan tax bill. In particular, he said they could not support tax reform that delivered tax cuts to the wealthiest 1 percent or added to the deficit.
The entire Democratic caucus joined Schumer on the letter, except for three senators ― Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.), all moderate members up for re-election in 2018.
The White House has been courting these senators too, sensing that they might be open to a deal.
In an interview with HuffPost this week, Schumer said each member will vote as he or she likes, but he’s warning them that going along with the GOP tax bill will not help them politically.
“Every member will vote his or her conscience, but I’m telling our members that this bill is not going to be a popular bill,” he said. “In fact, for the Republicans, it’s a lose-lose. They either lose the bill, and that creates some chaos here, or they lose because they passed a bill that’s unpopular with the American people and can be used as a pretty strong weapon against them.”
“Schumer has been very helpful on this issue,” Manchin spokesman Jonathan Kott said. “He meets and speaks regularly with Manchin to point out the problems with the bill, but gives him the room to do what he thinks is best.”
It sounds like Schumer is getting through to Manchin:
Manchin — a self-described centrist Democrat — believes Republicans are putting together a tax plan “under a cloak of secrecy” in which Democrats have no input, and White House liaison Mark Short told him he should arrange a meeting in which Democrat senators could be briefed on the legislation.
Manchin said the group assembled Tuesday night, with 12 senators in attendance. They met with Gary Cohn, economic adviser to President Donald Trump and architect of the tax plan being pushed by the White House.
Senators learned during the meeting the Congressional Budget Office expects the tax plan to add $1.7 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years, and Manchin said his read on the bill is that only the wealthy would benefit.
“When I talked to the president, he told me the tax cut was not going to be for the wealthy, but for the working-class people,” Manchin said. “If it’s for middle-class working people — that’s West Virginia — then I want that. But that’s not what I’m seeing. I have to assume this is not the president’s plan.”
While the House tax plan would increase the standard deduction for taxpayers, any gains for the middle class would be negated as other tax credits — such as the “child tax credit” — would be phased out in five years, Manchin said.
The federal historic tax credit of 20 percent for those redeveloping historic properties would be eliminated under the measure — just as the West Virginia Legislature has voted to increase the state tax credit to 25 percent.
And under present tax laws, estates valued at less than $5 million — or $10 million for a married couple — are not subject to estate tax. The House tax plan eliminates the estate tax entirely, which Manchin said would cost the nation $250 billion annually.
The middle class in West Virginia is defined as those earning $30,000 to $80,000 annually, according to Manchin.
“And they’re looking for relief,” Manchin said. “Temporary relief is not going to be sufficient, (in addition to) all the debt we will be incurring. It’s going to the protection of those millionaires, billionaires and zillionaires out there. I can’t figure it out. At the end of the food chain, those who need it the least seem to be the ones who benefit the most.”
Manchin said he would continue to work with the Trump Administration to find a solution.
“But it’s just very troubling right now,” he said.
Late last month, Heitkamp disputed Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin’s claim that it’ s “ very hard" not to chop taxes for the wealthy:
"When you lower the upper tax ... rate from 39 to 35 and you take away the alternative minimum tax, of course this is going to spin to the rich," she told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
"But if you said look — when the secretary, Secretary Mnuchin said there's no way you can give a tax break to the middle class without advantaging the rich — that's not true. I could do a tax credit to just those earners," Heitkamp said.
The White House and congressional Republicans are crafting a tax-cut plan that they hope to pass this year. The framework calls for across-the-board income tax reductions, a cut to the corporate tax rate and the removal of some provisions like the alternative minimum tax and estate tax. It also doubles the standard deduction.
An independent analysis by the Tax Policy Center estimated the richest 1 percent would get more than half of the benefits under the plan. It could also increase the tax burden on 28 percent of middle-class workers over time, according to the analysis.
Trump has been trying to woo Senate Democrats to back his tax plan with this bull shit:
President Donald Trump told a group of Democratic senators Tuesday that he'd be a "big loser" if the Republicans' plan to overhaul the tax system is signed into law, multiple people with direct knowledge of the call told CNN.
Trump, who said he made his assumption based on a conversation with his accountant, also said the GOP's plan to repeal the estate tax was a toss-in because the plan is "just so bad for rich people."
Trump spoke on the phone to the group of Senate Democrats who met with senior White House adviser Gary Cohn and legislative affairs director Marc Short in the Library of Congress, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio told reporters.
The President's phone call was a surprise to Sen. Joe Manchin, who organized the meeting. Trump called in through Cohn's phone, and Cohn put him on speaker. Trump spoke for about 10 minutes during what was the 6 a.m. hour local time in South Korea.
Sen. Tom Carper described the call as "a nice touch," but said that Trump did more talking than listening on the call, while Cohn and Short fielded more of the questions and comments.
U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly (D. IN) is facing the most pressure from the White House to back Trump’s tax plan:
Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that a GOP effort to overhaul the U.S. tax code for the first time in three decades is neither a Republican or a Democrat issue, but a “jobs issue.”
The former Indiana governor and congressman made the remarks in his home state, at a suburban Indianapolis business. It comes as the White House seeks to lure support from vulnerable Democrats seeking re-election in Republican states, including Democratic Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly.
“Our biggest resource is our people, and the right kind of tax cuts will make it possible for American businesses to invest more in the American people,” Pence said.
The tax overhaul has been pitched by Republicans and President Donald Trump as way to rev the economy. But others are skeptical it will make much of a difference for the vast majority of people — and could cost some more.
Earlier Thursday, the Senate released its own version of the plan, while the House Ways and Means Committee approved its own version of the legislation.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll taken last month found that people by large margins believe the Trump-backed tax plan helps wealthy people and corporations. Just over four in 10 in the poll said they believe that it helps middle-income individuals and families, slightly more than the number who thinks it hurts them.
“In Indiana, the top 1 percent of earners are going to get 46 percent, or so, of tax cuts,” said Gregory Shufeldt, an assistant professor of political science at Butler University, who has reviewed Trump’s outline of the plan. “For the vast majority of Indiana residents, the benefits they might see from this type of policy would be about $8 per week.”
Pence painted a considerably rosier picture Thursday, characterizing it as a “middle class miracle” focused on “working families.”
Either way, Shufeldt said it was smart politics for Republicans, who have struggled to get much done in Washington, despite controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House. By bringing the issue front and center in Indiana, it also ups the pressure on Donnelly.
“Even if this doesn’t move Sen. Donnelly’s vote, it’s starting to prime the discussion for next November,” Shufeldt said, alluding to midterm elections.
It’s important that Senate Democrats remain united on this issue. If you live in West Virginia, North Dakota or Indiana, be sure to keep the pressure on Manchin, Heitkamp and Donnelly to not budge and to reject Trump and the GOP’s scam tax plan which is nothing but a tax hike on the middle class to pay for the massive giveaway to the rich. Click below to contact their offices:
Joe Manchin (D. WV)
Heidi Heitkamp (D. ND)
Joe Donnelly (D. IN)