It is self-evident that the GOP, in the tumultuous election cycle of 2016, mainly campaigned on a fiscally conservative platform. One of the reasons why Donald Trump was elected President is his excellent tax plan, one that energized the traditional conservative base of the Republican Party. Now he is President, the Donald seems to have forgotten about that important promise. With a Republican House and Senate, it is important to remember one of the priorities of the Trump administration: the simplification of tax brackets, the lowering of the corporate tax rate, and the novel idea of a flat tax.
This video from PragerU intelligently sums up the concept.
America was founded on a principle of equality under the rule of law. That idea, in simple English, is the premise that government, when making public policy, should treat all humans as equals, in an attempt to promote individual freedom. The flat tax solves many of the problems facing our economy today, as it changes the current tax system from one designed for redistribution, to one that exists exclusively to fund the necessary duties of the federal government.
According to David Burton of the Heritage Foundation:
“Replacing the corporate or individual income tax with a business flat tax would have a substantial positive economic impact because doing so would eliminate the double and treble taxation of savings and investment, eliminate unwarranted tax preferences, and reduce marginal tax rates substantially. Reducing the cost of capital would increase investment and the size of the capital stock, which would, in turn, make the economy more productive. Output per worker would grow and real wages would increase.”
The flat tax will bring America back to its capitalist roots and decrease the role of government by further preserving Americans’ individual property rights. It is also worth noting that the Reagan administration, with its massive tax cuts and deregulation, increased federal tax revenue from $517 billion in 1980 to $909 billion in 1988.
While the flat tax should definitely be one day considered and implemented, the current administration’s campaign stances on taxes should be followed through, as soon as possible. The Trump administration’s current priority, aside from promoting and securing Americans’ right to life, should be to address the 10,000,000 word monstrosity that is the Federal Income Tax (FIT). Ever since the Progressive era, which witnessed the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment, the FIT has been a burden for many Americans.
President Trump ran on a platform of Reagan-esque tax reforms and decreasing of bureaucratic power. The simplification of the tax bracket, from 7 to 3, will make tremendous gains in creating new jobs and stimulating growth. With his proposed tax plan, Trump will also work to eliminate the estate tax and decrease federal spending while he’s at it.
If the President’s promises on the campaign trail were so good, why isn’t Congress acting on it and carrying out their legislative duties? America needs to hold our representative lawmakers accountable. The current Republican Congress should postpone their disastrous attempt to repeal Obamacare and focus on their mission of tax reform. These decisions have long-lasting impacts on all Americans and are considerably simpler than the repeal of Obamacare.