There's a difference between taking action to minimize your personal taxes and taking action to shape overall tax policy. The examples you give are the former.

There's a difference between taking action to minimize your personal taxes and taking action to shape overall tax policy. The examples you give are the former. On the policy side, while it's true that both parties have been reluctant to raise taxes, I think it's clear that since the Reagan era, it's Republicans who have moved most aggressively to lower taxes, and in ways that disproportionately lower the taxes of the wealthy.