Top Dem tax writer urges focus on the middle class

Rep. Richard Neal (Mass.), the new top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, warned Republicans against enacting tax cuts that predominantly benefit the wealthy.

“If we proceed down the path of concentrated tax cuts for people at the top, it only means more concentrated wealth,” he said Thursday at an event at the National Press Club.

Neal’s comments come as President-elect Donald Trump and House Republicans have made tax reform one of their top priorities for 2017. Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee are preparing legislation based on a blueprint released in June.

Neal said that committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) has a “pretty aggressive” schedule for proceeding on tax reform.

{mosads}Analyses from think tanks have found that the House GOP plan would lower taxes across the board but would give the biggest cuts to high-income people.

Neal criticized the House Republicans’ tax plan for concentrating the tax cuts at the top of the income distribution. He also criticized the GOP interest in repealing ObamaCare taxes, saying the party’s plan would raise taxes on the middle class and cut taxes for wealthy people who don’t need tax cuts.

Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, has said that tax cuts would be for the middle class. On Thursday, Neal countered that the House Republicans’ plan doesn’t do that. Instead, Neal says he’s waiting for lawmakers and Trump to “try to get on the same script.”

Neal said that the focus of tax reform should be on the middle class. He hopes that tax reform could include expansions of the child tax credit and earned income tax credit.

“The tax-reform discussion should begin with the following premise: What will improve the quality of life for all Americans?” he said.

Neal said he hoped that Republicans would not enact tax cuts that increase the deficit.

“Do deficits only count when there’s a Democratic president?” he asked.

House Republicans have said they are aiming for tax reform to be deficit-neutral after accounting for economic growth. Neal said that he challenges the notion that economic growth can pay for tax cuts.

Neal said that there could be an “appetite” for Democrats and Republicans to find some agreement on tax reform.

“On the tax front, we all agree that the current system is underproductive and inefficient,” he said.