More Tax Cuts? Probably Not

Yeah, right.

House Republicans and the Trump Administration are reportedly discussing the possibility of proposing another round of tax cuts heading into the 2020 election.

Let’s face it: Whether you like tax cuts or not, such a plan has no chance of becoming law. Impeachment and the election are sucking up what little air was left in our nation’s capital.

But even a political fight over tax cuts is going to cost the various interest groups circling around tax issues time and money. Anytime someone tries to open the tax code, Gucci Gulch returns.

You remember Gucci Gulch, don’t you?

That’s the hallway outside the tax-writing committees where lobbyists charging who-knows-how-much money congregate, trying to button-hole members as they come and go from their deliberations.

Which brings us to the Independent Community Bankers of America.

The ICBA recently announced a high-profile campaign called “Wake Up” in an effort to convince lawmakers that credit unions can no longer justify their income tax exemption.

Like it or not (and it’s a safe bet that most of you reading this don’t), the ICBA has been pretty creative in how it is approaching this recurring argument.

For instance, on Halloween, the ICBA distributed candy and a greeting card to congressional offices. The card carried the message, “Scary risk-taking, abandonment of mission, insatiable appetite for growth. The facts about credit unions are so chilling – even their regulator can’t bear to look.”

The group is producing white papers, state-by-state analyses about the purported effect of the credit union tax exemption and op-eds that can be customized for local newspapers.

Up until now, Congress has had little stomach for revoking the credit union tax exemption.

The last member of Congress to propose that was former Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). And even he didn’t raise the issue until after he announced his retirement.

Before that, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) asked for a Government Accountability Office study of whether the tax exemption is outdated.

You remember Steve King (not to be confused with the author)? He’s the guy who spouted White Supremacist comments in reference to House members, and whose rantings became so odious that the Republicans stripped him of all committee assignments.

He doesn’t have much clout with his colleagues.

And the tax issue itself is likely dead on arrival.

Even in the best of times, Congress has trouble dealing with the tax code (and this sure ain’t the best of times.).

It takes some level of consensus for Congress to enact such complex legislation as a tax cut or a tax increase. These days, Congress can’t reach a consensus on what time it is.

To make matters more complicated, in case you forgot, the Republicans control the White House and the Senate, and the Democrats control the House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) can’t spend more than five minutes in a room with Trump before one of them insults the other and someone leaves the room.

And while comity has been the order of the day in the past when Official Washington gets together, it’s a sure bet that Pelosi isn’t going to have Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell over for drinks anytime soon.

So, let’s see:

• No serious legislator is pushing for the credit union tax exemption to be revoked.
• Congress probably doesn’t want to open the tax code as an election year approaches.
• The people who would need to cut a deal can’t stand each other.

Where does that leave us?

The ICBA’s effort is likely to go nowhere anytime soon. But if credit unions ignore its high-profile and creative campaign, they likely do so at their own peril.

A Sign of the Times?

Retirements from the House of Representatives are often a pretty good measuring stick for how members see the wind blowing (yeah, that was a mixed metaphor).

If that’s the case, Republicans must be pretty pessimistic about their chances of regaining the majority. At last count, 19 House Republicans announced their retirements, compared with seven Democrats.

And the list includes some senior GOP members: Greg Walden of Oregon, who was first elected in 1998; Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, who was first elected in 1978; and Mac Thornberry, first elected in 1994.

The three had enough seniority that they might have reclaimed some committee chairmanship if the GOP re-took the House.

The Democrats have a few interesting senior retirements of their own. House Appropriations Chairman Nita Lowey of New York, first elected in 1988 and Senior Appropriator Jose Serrano of New York, first elected in 1990 have announced they are leaving.

Lowey could have faced a primary challenge from the left next year in New York, while Serrano has announced he has Parkinson’s Disease.

Serrano is fond of describing his district, saying he represents Yankee Stadium.

But he has never been re-elected with less than 92% (He once joked that he had won his last election with 96% of the vote and was looking for who was in that last 4%).

With that margin of victory, it’s probably his health and not some political fears that caused him to announce his departure.

Go Nats

Folks in our nation’s capital seeking good news don’t have to look any further than the sports pages of the Washington Post.

For decades, the Washington Senators was a hapless baseball team that stunk up the American League.

The team was so bad that a certain slogan became popular. In 1904, sportswriter Charles Dryden was credited with coining the witty slogan: “First in War, first in peace and last in the American League.”

Well, the Senators left town a long time ago. And the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, where the team, the Washington Nationals, just won the World Series.

Few things unite a city like a championship sports team. Washington could use a little bit of unity these days.

Go Nats!

David Baumann is a correspondent-at-large for CU Times. He can be reached at dbaumann@cutimes.com.