Martin A. Sullivan (Tax Analysts) has published The Fate of Tax Reform Depends on the Tea Party, 130 Tax Notes 143 (Jan. 10, 2010):
A new day is dawning, and on Capitol Hill, conservatives must make a choice. Will they follow the easy path of politics as usual, or will they practice what they preach and adhere to their core principles? … The next battleground where parochial interests will square off against ideological purity is tax policy. The outcome could be the linchpin for determining if surging hopes for tax reform will be realized or if they will just fade away.
Under the traditional Republican view, all tax cuts are good and all tax increases are bad, period. This is a time-tested winning electoral strategy. There is tremendous value in allowing very few exceptions to the rule, because of the need to preserve the Republican brand as the party of low taxes. Under this view, tax expenditures are welcome because they are tax cuts. …
The alternative view is the diametric opposite. The case was nicely laid out by former Reagan economic adviser Martin Feldstein in a July 20 Wall Street Journal op-ed: “Cutting tax expenditures is really the best way to reduce government spending.” Feldstein’s logic is impeccable. Government can reward favored constituencies and interfere with the economy just as easily through the tax code as through direct spending. Therefore, those who oppose big government must be tax reformers.
Although the Tea Party is more famous for passion than for logic, it has gravitated to views like Feldstein’s. According to the Tea Party, the tax laws should be simplified. (Under item no. 4 of the Tea Party’s “Contract From America,” the code would be no longer than the 4,543 words of the U.S. Constitution.) Government subsidies for special interests should be eliminated. And government should be downsized to only the most essential functions. The tax code should be purged of targeted tax breaks. Tax expenditures are tax earmarks.
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4 responses to “Sullivan: The Tea Party Will Determine Fate of Tax Reform”
Tea parties and tax reform
Is there a principled small-government position on tax policy? Martin Sullivan says the fight over the Ethanol and biofuel subsidies…
Tea parties and tax reform
Is there a principled small-government position on tax policy? Martin Sullivan says the fight over the Ethanol and biofuel subsidies…
Tea parties and tax reform
Is there a principled small-government position on tax policy? Martin Sullivan says the fight over the Ethanol and biofuel subsidies…
Tea parties and tax reform
Is there a principled small-government position on tax policy? Martin Sullivan says the fight over the Ethanol and biofuel subsidies…
Tea parties and tax reform
Is there a principled small-government position on tax policy? Martin Sullivan says the fight over the Ethanol and biofuel subsidies…
Tea parties and tax reform
Is there a principled small-government position on tax policy? Martin Sullivan says the fight over the Ethanol and biofuel subsidies…
Tea parties and tax reform
Is there a principled small-government position on tax policy? Martin Sullivan says the fight over the Ethanol and biofuel subsidies…
Tea parties and tax reform
Is there a principled small-government position on tax policy? Martin Sullivan says the fight over the Ethanol and biofuel subsidies…
Tea parties and tax reform
Is there a principled small-government position on tax policy? Martin Sullivan says the fight over the Ethanol and biofuel subsidies…
First lets understand that the so called Republican brand, cut taxes no matter what as an answer to every problem, is precisely why we are in the fiscal mess we are in. That and the other Republican mantra, de-regulate or non regulate, under any and all circumstances. So if you are serious aboout a fiscally sound policy that false approach needs to be addressed. Next, lets have a moratorium on over stating the importance of the so called “Tea Party”. Loud rhetoric from largely uneducated and/or ill informed agitators does not solve problems. And silly ideas like limiting the size of the tax code to the size of the US Consitution would be laughable if it wasn’t taken seriously by seemingly sober people. They would be better served to actually read and study the consitution more and talk about it less. The line between serious citizen and crackpot can be thin sometimes. Lets take a pragmatic look at the issues and consign loud, ignorant, silly talk where it belongs….in the dustbin with junk science like supply side economics.