'Pass and Pray' is the GOP Tax-Reform Strategy

This week will be a crucial test for President Trump and the Republican majority in Congress. Specifically, this is the week that a tax-reform bill should pass the Senate. The Democrats are taking their predictable position of attacking Republican tax-reform plans as tax cuts for the rich, and the media is pointing to various polls citing the unpopularity of Trump’s tax proposals. Again, all of this is predictable. And it was probably destined to be.

The decision in the Senate is down to a few Republicans. I’m not sure a broader, better communications effort on behalf of the administration would have changed this seemingly inevitable predicament. No central message about the benefits of tax reform ever gained any real traction. With that said, Republicans appear ready to pass a bill and are hopeful they will reap the economic and political benefits before next year’s election. The strategy of pass and pray may have been born out of necessity, but it is a wise decision.

Waiting for a popular tax measure with Trump’s name attached to it would be a long wait. Let’s face it, Trump’s approval rating is just 39 percent. Anything with his name linked to it right now has a serious political headwind. This should come as no surprise. When NBC News and the Wall Street Journal asked last month, “Do you think that President Trump’s tax plan is a good idea or a bad idea?,” only 25 percent responded it was a good idea. And yet, the economic and political benefits of tax reform — or at least the negative impact on Republicans for failure to pass a major tax bill — cannot be overstated.