In the wake of the GOP health care humiliation, Senate Democrats made an overture to Republicans Tuesday seeking to work together on overhauling the tax code. All but three Democratic senators—Indiana's Joe Donnelly, West Virginia's Joe Manchin, and North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp, all up for re-election in 2018— signed a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laying out a starting point for negotiations on taxes. The New York Times writes:
In the conditions laid out in their letter, the Democrats insisted that changes to tax laws not increase the tax burden on the middle class and that the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers not see their tax bills shrink.
They also insisted that Republicans return to “regular order” and not try to push a tax bill through Congress using budget reconciliation rules that require only a simple majority in the Senate.
Finally, they want a rewrite of the tax code that does not add to the deficit and is not paid for with cuts to programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Given McConnell's recent voting counting deficit, one might think he would weigh his options before responding, but that would be giving him way too much credit.
“We will need to use reconciliation because we have been informed by the majority of the Democrats in a letter I just received today that most of the principles that would get the country growing again, they’re not interested in addressing,” Mr. McConnell said, leaving the option for Democrats to support a Republican-led tax plan.
Making sure taxes don't rise for middle-class Americans and aren't cut for America's richest—those are apparently nonstarters for McConnell and the Republican majority. So once again, the GOP is preparing to go it alone on tax reform, just like they did on health care.