Republicans At Each Other's Throats Over Tax Policy Again

Earlier today, we looked at how badly Republicans are expected to do in November. Don't fret; they've earned it. And the sense of likely doom is already starting to spill over into their congressional policy agenda. Yesterday, writing for Politico Nancy Cook and Bernie Becker reported that White House and top congressional Republicans who want to push for a House vote on a second round of tax cuts ahead of the midterms in hopes of bolstering their economic pitch to voters are running into opposition from endangered-- and freaking out-- Republican incumbents in swing districts. In Orange County, for example-- where Republicans are already likely to lose 3 or 4 red seats-- anything that brings up toxic GOP tax policies, is deadly for them at this point.

A dozen House Republicans, all but one of them from the high-tax states of California, New Jersey and New York, voted against the tax law in December because it capped state and local tax deductions, which they said would lead to tax increases on too many of their constituents.

Some of those GOP lawmakers have openly said they would prefer to leave the tax issue alone as Congress also grapples with how to fund the government and the House potentially votes on health care measures that might be more politically beneficial to vulnerable incumbents. “If we were to pass that here in the House, it would be an exercise in futility, because it could never pass in the Senate,” Rep. Leonard Lance of New Jersey, who opposed the first bill, said Friday on CNBC.

Top House leaders will unveil the second tax overhaul bill this week. Drafted by House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), the bill proposes to make permanent individual tax rate cuts from the Republicans’ first tax bill, while introducing new measures intended to help families save money, especially for retirement, and to spur innovation for businesses.

Sure, why should Brady case? His backward R+28 district north of Houston is 68% white, has no cities and gave Trump a massive 72.7% to 23.9% win over Hillary. If cavemen still lived in America, Kevin Brady's district is where they would be concentrated. Brady, one of Congress' most corrupt members, raised $4,233,536 this cycle against a token Democratic opponent, Steven David, who has raised $25,044. Brady told reporters that regardless of what his vulnerable colleagues are freaking out over, "it's full steam ahead."

Democrats have criticized the amount of stock buybacks that have followed the tax law and maintain it’s done little to help the average worker, and are likely to pound those themes again when discussing the second bill.

Democrats might have run from that fight in the past, given how often Republicans label them tax hikers. But these days, they are more than happy to relitigate last year’s tax law, which they have insisted from the start would heap savings on to corporations and the wealthy while leaving behind the middle-class.

The more even ground on taxes shows up in polling, too. The new tax law has not been the political plus that many Republicans expected as they try to hold on to the House, only becoming less popular since the beginning of the year.

Democrats and-- at least at election time-- some Republicans, are especially concerned because GOP leaders have made it clear that they hope to pay for these tax cuts by cutting back on crucial and popular programs like Medicare and Social Security and have all but given-up on the big infrastructure spending Trump promised when he campaigned in 2016. Jared Golden, the progressive Democrat and current state House majority whip now running for the Maine congressional seat held by Trump enabler Bruce Poliquin, told us that he's "always supported tax relief targeting the middle class and our small businesses in Maine. That is were my focus will be in the US House of Representatives. Unfortunately, my opponent voted to give millionaires and big corporations a windfall in the Trump tax plan. Now he's proposed legislation that will cut food stamps for struggling families in Maine as a way to pay for his misplaced priorities. That's going over like a lead balloon so I can understand why some of the sensible Republicans are worried about a round 2 of tax give-aways to the wealthy right before the election."

Randy Bryce, the much-celebrated Wisconsin everyman, @IronStache, on the cusp of replacing Paul Ryan in Congress, is eager to move forward with a massive infrastructure bill to bring good-paying jobs back to his region and the rest of the country. He's also vowed to sign on to the Medicare-For-All legislation on his first day in the House. This morning he told us that "at this point Republicans feel the water at neck level. They know the ship is sinking. It’s obvious to everyone that control of the House will be taken back by Democrats this November. It appears that what’s going on now is a final show of gratitude to reward the wealthy Republican donors that have helped them get elected. Some GOP Congressmen admitted that they needed to pass the initial tax scam or their donors were going to cut them off. The American public was wise to it and saw right through it for being the heist that it was. We see through this as well. No amount of contributions are going to save them from what’s going to take place this November."

A couple of the best Texas progressives running for Congress this cycle are Mike Siegel (TX-10, west of Houston) and Dayna Steele (TX-36, east of Houston). Mike told me that he's "yet to meet a single working Texan who prefers the idea of 'tax cuts' to essential programs like health care and Social Security. The Republicans are selling a fiction-- essentially, a new version of trickle-down economics. They want us to believe that helping corporations will eventually help American families. But the people here don’t have time to wait. They need support now." Dayna was quick to note that "You can live large every day but eventually the bottom will fall out. I learned this from watching countless "rock stars" crash and burn in the music business. The initial tax cuts, and now these new tax cuts, will be good for many in the short term. However, for success, you have to plan for the long term and it appears the Republicans are grifting as much as they can from the system before they take leave..."