Forbes: Speaker Paul Ryan And Chairman Kevin Brady Produce A Tax Blueprint To Make America Great AgainBy Ralph BenkoLate last month, barely reported by the media amid all the general political static, something really amazing happened. House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady released a truly great tax reform plan. Meanwhile, last week:
It is significant that Trump selected the iconic supply side Reagan insider Kudlow for his warm up act. It is significant that good, good, good vibrations were noted by Speaker Ryan (R-WI): “I thought he did a great job engaging with our members, and I think our members appreciated it.” The lines of communication appear open. Speaker Ryan’s hand-picked chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), managed to achieve the impossible as head of Ryan’s House task force on tax reform. Recent well-intended efforts at tax reform left many pessimistic. Nothing of the magnitude of the last big prosperity-with-equity tax reform, in 1986, seemed possible. Brady showed them how. Brady rendered a big, high potency, high integrity tax reform plan that is shrewdly designed to vault America back into the lead of world economic competitiveness. It is structured to supercharge economic growth, increasing growth over baseline by 9.1% over ten years. It would lower rates, broaden the tax base and provide tax cuts to taxpayers across-the-board. It would dramatically simplify tax preparation for about 95% of Americans. And it would do all that without being a deficit monger. Brady’s successful quest for the Holy Grail of tax reform makes him something like the Indiana Jones of the Congress of the United States. If Trump picks it up, the Ryan/Brady reform plan could dramatically change the chemistry of the 2016 presidential race. Trump has been handed a sophisticated plan that would not be vulnerable to attacks by Hillary Clinton as a budget buster. The Ryan/Brady reform plan has been vetted by the independent, center-right Tax Foundation. It is a credible proposal to fulfill, in part, Trump’s core value proposition: to make America great again. Without resorting to threats of potentially destructive tariffs it would profoundly advantage America’s trade posture. The Ryan/Brady reform plan would obviate the need for American corporations to flee punitive taxation through inversions. Conversely, foreign corporations would be fighting to headquarter themselves in the United States. Its structure would reduce, maybe even abolish, the self-inflicted disadvantages our legacy tax structure has on our export industries. Trump would bring his powerful negotiating skills to the World Trade Organization to make sure the reconfigured tax structure receives fair treatment. It’s just the sort of credible prosperity plan that Larry Kudlow, who Trump trusts, could wield in the course of the campaign and as a future Trump cabinet official. So what’s in the Ryan/Brady reform plan? According to the Tax Foundation it “would lead to 9.1% higher GDP over the long term, 7.7% higher wages, and an additional 1.7 million full-time equivalent jobs.” The plan “Consolidates the current seven tax brackets into three, with rates of 12%, 25%, and 33%.” More fully it:
The result?
In short, the Ryan/Brady reform plan would “greatly increase the U.S. economy’s size in the long run, boost wages, and result in more full-time equivalent jobs” with a trivial increase to the deficit and with a high degree of economic justice. As noted by Bloomberg News and The Washington Post, the supply siders, led by Kudlow, have given Trump the most enthusiastic embrace of anyone in the Republican Party establishment. The Ryan/Brady reform plan accomplishes at least two big things: growing America’s economy by an extra 9.1% over ten years while restoring America’s trade advantages in a powerful and constructive way. Politically it credibly addresses the key voter concern to restore America’s equitable prosperity and could build a strong bridge between the House and the White House. More than an excellent tax reform will be needed to truly make America great again. Restoring integrity to the dollar also is crucial. Trump has glowingly praised the gold standard:
And America surely could count on a Trump presidency to cut back the massive regulatory thicket, perhaps reaching into Brady’s “smart regulation” legacy plan to apply a meaningful cost-benefit analysis in the adoption–and repeal–of regulations. While the media was mostly looking elsewhere, Chairman Kevin “Indiana Jones” Brady, with the support and inspiration of Speaker Ryan, offered a splendid down payment on truly making America rich, and great, again. Once the GOP convention hoopla dies down, let Donald Trump invite Chairman Brady to Trump Towers to open up and help him inspect this splendid gift from the House of Representatives. This plan is a gift to the Republican aspirant to the White House. It is a gift to American taxpayers and workers. Thank you Speaker Ryan. Thank you Chairman Brady. Let’s make America great again! |