On February 1, members of the Senate convened at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in DC, discussing a variety of topics from tax reform regarding import/export within the country’s borders to the eventual repeal and replacement bill of theAffordable Care Act. Republican Senate Finance Committee (SFC) Chairman Orrin G. Hatch from Utah commented significantly on the fate of the ACA, specifically citing that all ACA-related taxes “need to go.”
Per Hatch: “After spending seven years talking about the harm being caused by these taxes, it’s difficult to switch gears now and decide that they’re fine so long as they’re being used to pay for our Healthcare bill.”
On the Democratic side, the argument remains that ACA-related tax cuts are merely just a means to advance support of the wealthy and significantly decrease their taxes. A recent statement from Democratic SFC ranking member Ron Wyden of Oregon referred to it as a “Trojan Horse.”
Still, the greatest argument from Democrats within the Senate is the lack of any replacement plan. To start off only with a slashing of ACA-related taxes could be arguably viewed as the aforementioned Trojan Horse to cut taxes for the wealthy, the result of which will be to increase the federal deficit.
President Trump advised of a delay in a repeal and replace plan to the end of this year or sometime next year.
