[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 176 (Tuesday, October 31, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6890-S6891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Republican Tax Plan

  Mr. President, according to their timeline, House Republicans are set 
to release the details of their tax plan tomorrow. We will see if they 
can do it and, if so, just how detailed it will be. What everyone in 
America should focus on is the question of who exactly the Republican 
plan will benefit. Will it be the poor, the working class, or the 
middle class, or will it be big corporations and the richest 1 percent?
  We live in a time of immense inequality, so much so that it strains 
the bonds of affection that bind us together in this country. The 
wealthy have amassed astonishing wealth--and God bless them. We don't 
begrudge them for their success, but working Americans and middle-class 
Americans have slipped further and further behind. The President is 
surely aware of this. He rode into the White House by channeling the 
legitimate anger and anxiety of working-class Americans who have seen 
their wages diminished and their jobs shipped overseas.
  Will President Trump and his Republican Party, once in power, turn 
around and rewrite the Tax Code to benefit the wealthy few at the 
expense of the middle class? Will he do a 180-degree turn from what he 
campaigned on and what he talks about and pass a plan for the hard 
right--those wealthy thousand people who give so much money to the 
Republican Party and think tanks? Will he bow to them against 
everything he campaigned on and what he says? It sure seems so.
  On Wednesday, Republicans will likely propose to eliminate or 
substantially reduce the State and local tax deductibility, a bedrock 
middle-class deduction claimed by over one-third of all taxpayers--not 
just the wealthy--most of whom are in the middle class or the upper 
middle class. The proposal caused such angst in the House that it 
almost brought down the budget resolution. So Republicans have crafted 
a compromise that would allow taxpayers to claim State and local 
deductions on property taxes but not sales and income tax. That 
compromise would still cost taxpayers $900 billion.
  Taxpayers in high sales tax States, like Tennessee, Florida, and 
Nevada, would get whacked, as would taxpayers in high income tax 
States, like New York, New Jersey, California, Minnesota, and Colorado. 
Go figure that high property tax States, like Texas, Chairman Brady's 
State, would be better off under the proposal.
  Picking winners and losers like this doesn't solve the problem. The 
new State and local compromise is still a nearly $1 trillion tax hike 
on the middle class to pay for tax giveaways to big corporations and 
the very wealthy.
  I say to my Republican colleagues in the House, particularly to those 
from suburban and fairly affluent districts, middle-class and upper 
middle class

[[Page S6891]]

districts, that they vote for this compromise at the same peril as they 
voted for the bill that would totally eliminate State and local 
deductibility. The damage still remains, and don't think a small 
compromise--a small haircut--can let you escape from the political 
whirlwind you would reap if you vote for this bill.
  The Republicans are also likely to unveil tomorrow what they plan to 
do with 401(k)s. We have heard reports that Republicans want to tax 
401(k)s to get more revenue to pay for their tax giveaways to the rich. 
It is another clear example that this plan is not going to be for the 
middle class. The 401(k)s are one of the best tools we have to 
encourage Americans to start saving early for retirement. We know 
Americans aren't doing enough of that right now, at the same time that 
defined benefit plans are enjoyed by fewer Americans than in the past, 
as companies reduce or eliminate pensions. Why make it even harder for 
Americans to prepare for their retirement on their own by saving 
through 401(k)s? Why tax them so that you can give tax cuts to the very 
rich?
  We Democrats have a better deal to offer the American people on 
401(k)s. Rather than having Uncle Sam dip his hands into American 
retirement plans, we Democrats believe Americans deserve a helping hand 
when it comes to their retirement. In just a short time, we will 
release our 401(k) plan.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Strange). The Senator from Connecticut.