Hoyer Statement on President Trump’s Tax Proposal

WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today on President Trump’s tax proposal:

“’Fool me once,’ the old adage says, and ‘shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.’  Americans learned the hard way over the past decade and a half that massive tax cuts for the wealthy do not pay for themselves; rather, they left our nation struggling under the weight of debt and limited our ability to respond during the financial crisis.  Such would be the consequences once more if President Trump’s single page of talking points, unveiled today, were to be enacted.  This is not an outline for ‘tax reform.’  It suggests instead a massive tax giveaway targeted to a select few, with little for the middle class but trillions in added debt.

“As if that weren’t troubling enough, we cannot know with certainty just how beneficial President Trump’s tax cut proposal would be to his own personal finances until the American people finally see what is hidden in his tax returns.  America is not a banana republic that changes its laws to enrich its leaders.  President Trump has a responsibility to give the American people the tools – his tax returns – to judge how any tax proposal would impact his personal fortune.

“Real tax reform must be a bipartisan effort, conducted transparently and deliberately, to ensure that a simplified tax code provides certainty and promotes growth and opportunity for American businesses and the workers they employ.  To ensure that happens, President Trump and Republicans in Congress must drop their efforts to rush unpaid-for tax cuts through under expedited ‘budget reconciliation’ procedures, and engage Democrats in an open process.  Today’s announcement, unfortunately, brings us no closer to achieving real, sustainable, bipartisan tax reform.”