I can't wait to see the predictable anti-rich meltdown from the reactionary lefties, the know nothing buffoons who think the Job Fairy creates jobs, and not the wealthy or corporations.
Trump’s Finest Moment (So Far)
His tax-reform plan is smart policy, but even better politics: It’s a challenge to Congress.
President Trump at the Interior Department in Washington, April 26. PHOTO:ASSOCIATED PRESS
By
Kimberley A. Strassel
April 27, 2017 6:17 p.m. ET
811 COMMENTS
Here’s how to know a Republican president has scored big on a proposed tax reform: Read the New York Times —and chuckle.
The newspaper’s headline Wednesday lectured: “White House Proposes Slashing Tax Rates, Significantly Aiding Wealthy.” The story said that Donald Trump had offered a “radical reordering of the tax code,” though one that he “rushed” so as to “show progress before the 100-day mark of his presidency.” The proposal was but a “skeletal outline” and “less a plan than a wish list.” It contained “no explanation of how the plan would be financed.” And, oh, it would “richly benefit Mr. Trump” personally. This was a news article, by the way, not an editorial.
The president’s tax proposal—a big, swashbuckling vision for enacting pro-growth principles—offends many on the left by its very nature. Within a few minutes of its release, liberal economists, politicians and pundits were ripping it as a payoff to the wealthy, a deficit buster, regressive, unrealistic. That alone is proof Mr. Trump is getting the policy right.
Yet what Mr. Trump may be doing best is the politics of tax reform. The president’s proposal marks not only a triumph of ideas, but a savvy acknowledgment of the Washington landscape. After a rocky first few months, Mr. Trump is playing to win.
Start with the fact that this proposal is substantive. It didn’t have to be. In the wake of the health-care meltdown, Republicans on Capitol Hill began debating whether they ought to throw out messy, complicated tax “reform” in favor of easy, straightforward tax “cuts.” That wasn’t what they campaigned on; they had promised to slay the tax-code beast. Moreover, targeted rate cuts wouldn’t deliver for the economy. But this crew argued to the White House that a slimmed-down approach would at least deliver a quick, symbolic legislative victory.
Mr. Trump’s plan rejects that retreat. Instead of going weaker, it goes stronger, compiling into one document all the tax-reform ideas that most inspire conservative movers and shakers. Simplify the brackets? Check. Lower rates? Check. Harmonize rates between corporations and small businesses? Check. Move to a territorial corporate-tax system? Check. Kill off the estate tax, the alternative minimum tax, itemized deductions, and corporate loopholes? Check. This is the sort of stuff that think tanks, congressional reformers and business groups have been salivating over for years.
Good policy makes for good politics. The Trump proposal has galvanized all those groups that wield influence with Republicans. “Trump Plan Will Turbocharge the Economy,” crowed Americans for Tax Reform. “This is What Pro-Growth Tax Reform Looks Like,” declared the Club for Growth. It’s also a proposal to inspire voters, since it offers relief to nearly every category of taxpayer. Congressional Republicans can move ahead knowing they have support, even as they feel pressure to get the job done.
Big is also smart. Mr. Trump chose not to start on the 50-yard line—a mistake too many administrations make. His call for a 15% tax on both corporations and pass-through entities is aggressive, but it leaves room for negotiation and increases the likelihood that even a compromise bill will still look like real tax reform.
Yes, the proposal was “bare bones”—but that’s deliberate and designed to help get a win. The media will spend the coming weeks attempting to drag this debate into the minutiae, highlighting every GOP disagreement over every teensy provision. The Trump plan’s broad principles are an attempt to keep everyone focused on the ultimate prize, as well as to set markers for what counts as achievement. Besides, it upsets feelings when a president micromanages Congress.
Right now the bad feelings are all emanating from Democrats, who whine that Mr. Trump’s proposal contains no concessions for them, no reasons for them to support it. This, too, was smart politics. The White House had been under pressure to pursue a very different strategy—to enact only corporate tax reform and bring in Democrats with infrastructure spending. Yet there was no guarantee Democrats would play ball. That approach also would have robbed Republicans of the first opportunity in a generation for holistic tax reform. It risked fracturing GOP votes.
The Trump plan is instead a blunt acknowledgment that Democrats have no interest in working with him to harmonize, simplify and reduce rates for both corporations and individuals. It is instead pitched directly at Republicans, since it will take a united GOP conference to get it done.
That might be the smartest piece of all. The president has dramatically raised the stakes by laying out a giant challenge to his congressional allies. All eyes are on the Freedom Caucuses, the Tuesday Groups, the Ted Cruzes and Tom Cottons —all those who helped kill the health-care bill. If they fail to deliver this time, if they descend into bickering over deficits or state tax deductions, they will lose their majorities. It’s as simple as that.
President Trump has made it all about them. There are no excuses this time.
Write to kim@wsj.com.
Appeared in the Apr. 28, 2017, print edition.
Trump’s Finest Moment (So Far)
His tax-reform plan is smart policy, but even better politics: It’s a challenge to Congress.
President Trump at the Interior Department in Washington, April 26. PHOTO:ASSOCIATED PRESS
By
Kimberley A. Strassel
April 27, 2017 6:17 p.m. ET
811 COMMENTS
Here’s how to know a Republican president has scored big on a proposed tax reform: Read the New York Times —and chuckle.
The newspaper’s headline Wednesday lectured: “White House Proposes Slashing Tax Rates, Significantly Aiding Wealthy.” The story said that Donald Trump had offered a “radical reordering of the tax code,” though one that he “rushed” so as to “show progress before the 100-day mark of his presidency.” The proposal was but a “skeletal outline” and “less a plan than a wish list.” It contained “no explanation of how the plan would be financed.” And, oh, it would “richly benefit Mr. Trump” personally. This was a news article, by the way, not an editorial.
The president’s tax proposal—a big, swashbuckling vision for enacting pro-growth principles—offends many on the left by its very nature. Within a few minutes of its release, liberal economists, politicians and pundits were ripping it as a payoff to the wealthy, a deficit buster, regressive, unrealistic. That alone is proof Mr. Trump is getting the policy right.
Yet what Mr. Trump may be doing best is the politics of tax reform. The president’s proposal marks not only a triumph of ideas, but a savvy acknowledgment of the Washington landscape. After a rocky first few months, Mr. Trump is playing to win.
Start with the fact that this proposal is substantive. It didn’t have to be. In the wake of the health-care meltdown, Republicans on Capitol Hill began debating whether they ought to throw out messy, complicated tax “reform” in favor of easy, straightforward tax “cuts.” That wasn’t what they campaigned on; they had promised to slay the tax-code beast. Moreover, targeted rate cuts wouldn’t deliver for the economy. But this crew argued to the White House that a slimmed-down approach would at least deliver a quick, symbolic legislative victory.
Mr. Trump’s plan rejects that retreat. Instead of going weaker, it goes stronger, compiling into one document all the tax-reform ideas that most inspire conservative movers and shakers. Simplify the brackets? Check. Lower rates? Check. Harmonize rates between corporations and small businesses? Check. Move to a territorial corporate-tax system? Check. Kill off the estate tax, the alternative minimum tax, itemized deductions, and corporate loopholes? Check. This is the sort of stuff that think tanks, congressional reformers and business groups have been salivating over for years.
Good policy makes for good politics. The Trump proposal has galvanized all those groups that wield influence with Republicans. “Trump Plan Will Turbocharge the Economy,” crowed Americans for Tax Reform. “This is What Pro-Growth Tax Reform Looks Like,” declared the Club for Growth. It’s also a proposal to inspire voters, since it offers relief to nearly every category of taxpayer. Congressional Republicans can move ahead knowing they have support, even as they feel pressure to get the job done.
Big is also smart. Mr. Trump chose not to start on the 50-yard line—a mistake too many administrations make. His call for a 15% tax on both corporations and pass-through entities is aggressive, but it leaves room for negotiation and increases the likelihood that even a compromise bill will still look like real tax reform.
Yes, the proposal was “bare bones”—but that’s deliberate and designed to help get a win. The media will spend the coming weeks attempting to drag this debate into the minutiae, highlighting every GOP disagreement over every teensy provision. The Trump plan’s broad principles are an attempt to keep everyone focused on the ultimate prize, as well as to set markers for what counts as achievement. Besides, it upsets feelings when a president micromanages Congress.
Right now the bad feelings are all emanating from Democrats, who whine that Mr. Trump’s proposal contains no concessions for them, no reasons for them to support it. This, too, was smart politics. The White House had been under pressure to pursue a very different strategy—to enact only corporate tax reform and bring in Democrats with infrastructure spending. Yet there was no guarantee Democrats would play ball. That approach also would have robbed Republicans of the first opportunity in a generation for holistic tax reform. It risked fracturing GOP votes.
The Trump plan is instead a blunt acknowledgment that Democrats have no interest in working with him to harmonize, simplify and reduce rates for both corporations and individuals. It is instead pitched directly at Republicans, since it will take a united GOP conference to get it done.
That might be the smartest piece of all. The president has dramatically raised the stakes by laying out a giant challenge to his congressional allies. All eyes are on the Freedom Caucuses, the Tuesday Groups, the Ted Cruzes and Tom Cottons —all those who helped kill the health-care bill. If they fail to deliver this time, if they descend into bickering over deficits or state tax deductions, they will lose their majorities. It’s as simple as that.
President Trump has made it all about them. There are no excuses this time.
Write to kim@wsj.com.
Appeared in the Apr. 28, 2017, print edition.
