U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield,) the top Democrat on the U.S.'s House' taxation committee, doesn't think Congress can reach any kind of balanced budget deal to reform taxes unless Republicans reach across the aisle to include Democrats that support cleaning up the tax code.
As the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Neal is front center in negotiations over the first major tax overhaul since 1986.
"If you really want to do meaningful tax reform in America, the two parties have to do it, together. That's what happened in '86," Neal told the audience at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce forum Friday morning in Boston.
Neal warned that when the goal of the party in power is only to dismantle what the previous majority passed, the system of government becomes unstable.
"That's what's kind of wrong today in the system. This hypercharged polarization makes it more difficult to undertake consequential tax reform," Neal said.
Neal said he expects the Republican Congress to pass a tax cut that adds to the deficit, and not one that balances the budget.
