Blue Dog Leadership Responds to the House Republican Tax Bill

Today, the co-chairs of the fiscally-responsible, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition—Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), and Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)—released the following statement in response the release of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

"Since the beginning of this year, members of the Blue Dog Coalition have met with congressional Republicans, members of the Trump administration, and the White House to discuss the potential for real, bipartisan reform to our tax system. In all of these meetings, the Blue Dogs called for a real seat at the negotiating table on a tax bill—one where our members would be able to see the bill ahead time, and there would be give and take on both sides of the aisle. We released the Blue Dog Vision for Tax Reform to remind our Republican colleagues that a previous bipartisan process led to the revenue neutral tax reform package in 1986, and that there is potential for bipartisan compromise today. The Blue Dogs have repeatedly extended our hand to help produce a bill that Republicans and Democrats work on together, because that's how our government is intended to function.

"Republicans must stop catering to the extremes of their party by pursuing the failed, partisan reconciliation process, because partisan solutions simply don't lead to long-term results. Without a truly bipartisan tax bill, we fear the American people, small businesses, and American companies will have to deal with uncertainty, and, in turn, will have trouble planning finances and making key business decisions.

"As Blue Dogs, the door is never closed to pursuing bipartisan solutions. Although we strongly disagree with the process that produced this tax bill, our members will evaluate its contents in a measured way to see how it compares to the principles of the Blue Dog Vision for Tax Reform. History proves that a bipartisan process can lead to credible revenue neutral tax reform. Our hope is that our Republican colleagues remember that, and participate in the give and take that's required for a truly bipartisan solution."