A Trigger Warning (for Tax Reform)

Let’s hope all this talk from a small group of senators about inserting “triggers” into the tax bill triggers an outpouring of common sense among everybody else.

Up until now, the tax reform bill bounding rapidly through Congress has cleared procedural steps without attracting too many awful ideas. It still combines significant corporate tax cuts with a lowering of individual rates and the elimination of dozens of cherished deductions. As a product of compromise, it is not perfect, but it will help the economy and will lower taxes for the vast majority of Americans across all income levels.

Now, though, the Senate is said to be considering a gimmick that could endanger many of the benefits of the tax changes while masquerading as financial discipline.

Senator Bob Corker said Tuesday that he and other senators have been negotiating a “trigger” that would roll back tax cuts if government revenues missed projections. He told CNBC’s “Squawk Box”:

What several of us have asked for is a backstop or trigger in that event we don't meet the projections that have been laid out—since we're not going to score it—that we have a backstop. And so that's what we've been working on throughout the weekend and feverishly today. . . .