by Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump continued to battle members of his own party. That is making it unsure whether the businessman-turned-president will be able to pass a major tax overhaul, as the president's legislation needs all the votes it can get.
Trump in recent weeks and months has had several in-your-face and very public spats with a number of key lawmakers in his own party. Recent weeks have seen him refer to GOP Senator Jeff Flake as "Jeff Flakey," a mocking English language slang term.
Past weeks and months have also seen the bombastic president deride Republican senator and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain for failing to support the president's attempt to repeal and replace the previous administration's controversial healthcare revamp.
"President Trump's attack on Senator Flake reflects the president's willingness to take on members of his own party that disagree with the President, and as he did in the campaign ...," Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, told Xinhua.
Indeed, Trump recently mocked Flake in a series of social media posts, writing "Sen. Jeff Flake(y) who is un-electable in the Great State of Arizona (quit race, anemic polls) was caught (purposely) on 'mike' saying bad things about your favorite President."
These public spats raise questions over whether Trump will be able to pass a tax overhaul, as he will need all the votes he can muster, and experts said it's unwise for Trump to make enemies within his own party at a time when he needs to pass major legislation in order to ensure credibility.
Brookings Institution senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua that it makes no sense for Trump to be attacking a crucial swing vote he needs on the upcoming tax bill.
"Senator Flake is one of the few Republicans on the fence and it is quite short-sighted to engage in highly personal attacks on that person. It is not a good move on Trump's part and one that could come back and hurt him on key votes," West said.
Mahaffee added that attacking Flake helps Trump shore up support in a shrinking base, but does him no favors in accomplishing things in Washington or improving the perception of his ability to govern.
That could hurt Trump in the long run, analysts said, particularly in the lead up to the 2018 congressional elections.
West said Trump is likely to be a major drag on GOP candidates in 2018.
"He is very unpopular and his personal attacks and policy moves have riled up the Democratic base. Recent elections have shown big swings to Democrats and there is the danger that the House and Senate will revert back to Democratic control after 2018," said West.
"That will make it difficult for Trump to accomplish anything legislatively and will open him up to endless congressional investigations of his administration," added West.
TAX REVAMP A HIGH PRIORITY FOR TRUMP
Overhauling the U.S. tax structure is a high priority for the pro-business Trump.
In 2014, the United States had the world's third highest corporate income tax rate, at 39.1 percent, and experts said that has stunted the nation's economic growth.
Trump wants to rectify this, but the stakes are high, as failure to pass tax legislation could cost his party control of Congress, and that would derail the businessman-turned-politician's presidency.
Trump is pushing a tax bill that will boost U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) after years of sluggish growth, in which the economy simply slogged through and saw no robust recovery from the 2007-2008 economic nose dive.
While GDP growth has picked up somewhat in recent quarters, the president wants to push it higher. Trump would also like to provide incentives for U.S. corporations to return home, at a time when around 3 trillion U.S. dollars are overseas.
Some experts say Trump's tax plan helps companies by lowering their taxes and simplifying their paperwork, and that it is likely to make firms more competitive internationally and put them in a stronger position to boost their revenues.
Still, there's an ongoing argument between Democrats and Republicans, with the former contending that the tax plan will only benefit the top tier and fail to boost employment, and the latter arguing the plan will be overall beneficial.
Indeed, some experts believe it remains unclear whether the increased savings to companies will generate additional jobs, as many companies use extra money to increase dividends to stockholders, rather than boosting employment, although there are many companies whose stocks do not pay dividends.
Critics also believe the plan is geared toward helping companies and the wealthy, rather than the working class voters who put Trump in the White House.
Some hope Trump's tax plan will bring more companies back to the United States, at a time when many blue collar jobs have been shipped abroad, and working class people struggle to make ends meet.
