Desperate for Accomplishments & Their Own Tax Breaks, Daines and Gianforte Say Tax Proposal is “do-or-die”

Helena – After almost 10 months with no major accomplishments besides multiple failed attempts to destroy the health care system, Senator Steve Daines and Congressman Greg Gianforte are desperate. In interviews over the past week, each acknowledged that if their tax proposal is not passed into law by the end of the year, they should be held responsible for Washington’s lack of action on the most important issues facing Montana.

Speaking to Fox Business News earlier this week, Daines said, “We must get [the tax proposal] done. This is must pass. If we don’t get this done, frankly they should send us all home.”

Gianforte concurred in an interview last week with Lee Newspapers: “This is a do-or-die situation for Republican leadership. I’m hearing from many people saying, ‘Listen, you guys better get your act together.’ We need to get it done by the end of the year or we’ve missed our window.” He reiterated the point Tuesday to MTN, saying, “Montanans and the American people are going to judge us based on what we get done. We need to get tax reform done.”

Given that Gianforte and Daines are two of the wealthiest members of Congress, it begs the question: why the sense of urgency?  Is it because they have failed to accomplish anything this Congress? Or is it because they want to give themselves a hefty tax break at the expense of Montana families?

Gianforte has called the tax proposal “fair.” Senator Daines said in his interview with Fox Business that he would vote for the proposal but would not support making multi-millionaires like himself and Gianforte pay their fair share: “I’d be opposed to the idea here of raising taxes on the high end.”

Of course, the tax proposal as written would  “overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans,” and increase the budget deficit. It raises taxes on some middle class families, while the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans like Gianforte and Daines will see their taxes cut by 6.8%. Economists estimate that the current plan would add more than $2 trillion to the deficit.

But it’s all worth it for a political win, right?