GOP shut out Democrats when it came to the tax bill

In all the coverage of the GOP tax bill, the Review-Journal and many letter writers have emphasized that there was “no help” from Democrats. But has anyone analyzed why that is true?

Could it be for the fact that Mitch McConnell used a process called “budget reconciliation,” which allowed passage of the bill with only 51 votes in the Senate? Could the lack of Democrat votes have anything to do with the fact that Sen. McConnell did not allow a single Democrat to participate in constructing the legislation? Could it have anything to do with the fact that no Democrat was even permitted to see the bill (more than 1,500 pages) prior to it being introduced on the floor of the Senate? Could it have to do with the fact that the floor “debate” was severely limited to only a few days? Could the fact that no amendments proposed by Democrats were accepted be relevant?

The Affordable Care Act was presented to the Congress fully nine months before it was passed. There was floor debate, and amendments were proposed and voted on (and a number of Republican amendments were passed). Members of both parties participated in the process all throughout (it was, after all, modeled after a Republican health care plan that was in effect in Massachusetts, thanks to a Republican governor — Mitt Romney). In the end, no Republican voted for the bill, but it was not because they were denied access during the whole process.

The results of the passage of this bill remain to be seen. But there is no question that Republicans alone are responsible for the outcome. There is now talk of cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to help reduce the deficit caused by the $1.5 trillion cut in tax income to the federal government. And our grandchildren and their children will surely thank us for the added $1.5 trillion they will have to pay off.