There is a busy schedule waiting for Congress when they get back from summer vacation. Some in the GOP still want to do something on health care, but in the short term they have to raise the debt ceiling, they have to pass a budget or a continuing resolution and they want to do tax reform. The latter is the second big thing that Trump and the GOP leadership are excited about and with the failure of “repeal and replace” they really want to get it done to convince their base that they are worth re-electing in next year’s midterms.
The Democrats shouldn’t simply try to obstruct this time though. They should come up with their own tax cut, one that targets small business, the middle class, working class and working poor. This should include an increase in the personal deduction (the point below which you do not need to pay taxes), an increase in the deductible for dependents, an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and a reduction in the rate for people that make less than $100 thousand and small businesses. They should make it clear to the White House and Republican Leadership that the bill, as it’s written, has 194 votes in the House of Representatives and 46 (or 48 depending on the independents) in the Senate and leave it on the table.
Then, while Republicans are bickering over how much they want to give the wealthy and large corporations, they should go out and promote their bill in the media, in their home states and their congressional districts. While they’re doing that, they should also get sympathetic wealthy people and CEOs, people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to tell the media that the Democrats plan is better. Representatives of the “one percent” should go out and tell people that they don’t need a tax cut and that the real drivers of the economy, working people, and small businesses, should get a long overdue break.
While the Republican factions battle about how much money to give back to people who are already wealthy, they and the media and the public will know that tax relief for the majority of Americans, including small business and Trump voters, is only 24 votes away in the House and 3 to 5 in the Senate. In a best case scenario, it would help the vast majority of Americans and those who need it the most. In a worst case scenario, where the GOP rejects the Democrats plan and pass a tax cut for the wealthy and the Fortune 500, the Republicans still lose despite winning.