Two U.S. Senate Republicans critical of party's tax plan

A Senate Republican tax plan that would repeal the Obamacare mandate and give permanent tax cuts only to U.S. corporations drew fire from two Republican lawmakers on Wednesday in what could be a sign of trouble for the sweeping measure.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he would not vote for the proposal being debated by the Senate Finance Committee, telling the Wall Street Journal that it unfairly benefited corporations over other kinds of businesses.

Senator Susan Collins, one of three Republicans who opposed a Republican Obamacare repeal effort earlier this year, also warned that some middle-income taxpayers could see tax cuts wiped out by higher health insurance premiums if the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s mandate goes through.Their views could signal problems for Senate Republicans, who want to pass tax legislation by December but can afford to lose no more than two votes from their ranks because they have only a 52-48 majority in the Senate.

“If they can pass it without me, let them,” the Wall Street Journal quoted Johnson as saying. “I‘m not going to vote for this tax package.”

Republicans produced a new plan late on Tuesday that would guarantee permanent tax cuts for corporations but only temporarily lower tax bills for individuals and small businesses, while tying the overall package to an effective repeal of a key part of Obamacare, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

Exposing the tax-cut initiative to the same political risks that wrecked a mid-2017 anti-Obamacare push by Republicans, Senate tax committee chief Orrin Hatch unveiled an amendment that he defended as helpful to the middle class.

Collins, a Maine Republican, told reporters that adding the mandate repeal was a mistake. “This is going to be difficult and I just don’t know why we had to complicate it by bringing up the ACA,” she said.

Several moderate Republicans including Collins and John McCain have not said if they support the tax plan.

The new Republican plan, Hatch said at a committee meeting, would expand the child tax credit and slightly reduce some middle-class tax rates. Taken together, those changes “will let us channel even more tax relief to the middle class,” he said.

But those changes would be temporary, while a deep cut in the corporate tax rate would be permanent under Hatch’s plan, which was widely expected to become the main vehicle for Republicans efforts to revamp the tax code before year end.

The effort is seen by Republicans as critical to their prospects of retaining power in Washington in the November 2018 congressional elections. So far, Republicans and President Donald Trump have no major legislative victories from 2017 to show voters despite controlling the White House and Congress.