INDIANAPOLIS – IDP Chairman John Zody released the following statement today after the House passed its tax bill by a vote of 227-205, without a single Democratic vote, sending the tax effort to the Senate:
“Today’s vote means that Republicans are one step closer to shoving a massive overhaul of our economy down Americans’ throats with little regard for oversight, compromise or collaboration. In 1986, members of both parties worked together in an open process, and it produced a better bill. This year, Republicans have rushed their party into line and rammed this bill through the House—and are now poised to do the same in the Senate—without listening to the voices of pragmatists like Joe Donnelly.
“It’s this party-line dogma that leads to flawed proposals like the Senate’s back-door attempt to undermine our health care system by using their tax bill to destroy a key component of the Affordable Care Act. Under the Senate plan, the average Hoosier family who buys their insurance on the marketplace would suffer a premium increase of $1,360 a year – in some cases, more than they’d receive in tax cuts from the bill. Hoosier seniors would lose $519 million for Medicare. That’s what happens when you’re more focused on partisanship than helping Hoosiers.”
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