Senate Democrats call for bipartisan tax reform in letter to GOP

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Senate Democrats on Tuesday penned a letter to President Donald Trump and GOP Senate leadership, calling for both parties to work together on tax reform.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., co-authored the letter with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and 42 Democratic colleagues. In the letter, the Democrats urged the GOP leaders to work with them to update the tax code without reducing the federal revenue or cutting taxes on the rich to the detriment of middle-class Americans.

The Democrats also said tax reform legislation should "go through regular order and not reconciliation" -- a process that allows legislation to be considered without being subject to filibuster.

"We are confident that, by working together, we could modernize our tax system to increase working families' wages, improve middle-class job growth, promote domestic investment, modernize our outdated business and international tax systems and put in place sound fiscal policy that raises the revenue needed to meet the needs of our country," the Democrats wrote. "We look forward to working together to write tax reform legislation that provides real relief for America's working families."

Trump has called on Republicans in Congress to support his tax reform efforts with or without the help of Democrats.

The letter comes after White House legislative director Marc Short on Monday said conservative activists should pressure vulnerable Democrats facing reelection in the 2018 midterm elections into supporting tax reform.

The three Democrats who did not sign along with the rest of Democratic senators -- Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota -- represent states that Trump won in the 2016 general election.

"We're confident right now that we will be able to earn their support with our tax reform agenda," Short said during an event hosted by conservative groups.

But without working with Democrats, Senate Republicans may face a similar dilemma, such as they experienced when they attempted to pass healthcare legislation. Because all Democrats said they would vote against any GOP healthcare bill, GOP leadership had to work with conservative caucus members and moderate Republicans to avoid losing votes, which failed last week.

In the letter, the Democrats said they "will not support any effort to pass deficit-financed tax cuts, which would endanger critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other public investments in the future."

"Tax reform cannot be a cover story for delivering tax cuts to the wealthiest," the Democratic senators wrote. "We will not support any tax plan that includes tax cuts for the top 1 percent."