White House targets Trump-state Dems in tax push
Source: Politico
Trump and Pence chose Missouri and West Virginia for tax events to pressure the states' senators to get on board with their program ahead of the 2018 midterms.
By MATTHEW NUSSBAUM and ELANA SCHOR 08/30/2017 12:02 PM EDT
The White House is kicking off its push for tax reform with the intent of winning vulnerable moderate Democrats to the cause – and of potentially punishing them if they don’t ultimately sign on.
President Donald Trump chose the home state of moderate Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, who is up for re-election in 2018, as the venue for his first big tax address Wednesday. At the same time, Vice President Mike Pence is heading to West Virginia, where he’ll appear alongside Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) at a Chamber of Commerce event. Manchin, too, is up for re-election in 2018 in a state Trump carried by more than 40 points.
The White House sees both senators as gettable votes on its tax plan. Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) are also top targets for the White House, which wants to avoid the dismal fate of its effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act—an initiative that never attracted Democratic support, robbing the White House of bipartisan cover and an extra cushion against Republicans who refused to support it.
Manchin, Donnelly and Heitkamp were the only three Democratic senators who didn’t sign a letter circulated by minority leader Chuck Schumer this month outlining principles for Democrats on tax reform.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/30/white-house-trump-tax-push-democrats-targeted-242175
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