America needs comprehensive tax reform

Though America has prospered since the end of the so-called "great recession," the economy has grown by so little it's hardly worthy of mention. The boom that began under Ronald Reagan ended with the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry. The country is no longer moving. Something must be done to get things going again.

The answer to our problems is simple. America needs tax reform to get moving again. There are a number of good, serious proposals out there from the Hall-Rabuska flat tax to the "Better Way" plan being pushed by House Speaker Paul Ryan. None of them is perfect but they'd all produce lower rates by eliminating deductions and credits. They'd all make the system simpler, and they'd all goose the economy to get annual growth in U.S. GDP where it should be, around three or four percent annually if not higher.

Unfortunately for us all, there are too many people in Washington so married to one approach to tax reform or another they end up eagerly letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. What that means for you and me is efforts to reform the tax code may end up stillborn thanks to pundits and special interests who are trying to kill it before it ever has the chance to come before Congress.

It's unacceptable to let the D.C. swamp dwellers thwart this once-in-a-generation opportunity for comprehensive reform of the tax code. Too many jobs, too many secure retirements, too many families and small businesses that would like eventually to become big ones depend on bringing economic growth back. Unless the code is changed that won't happen.

The American Action Network just released a poll looking at the attitudes toward tax reform among the people who put President Trump and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate in office. It found an overwhelming number of Republicans of all stripes view tax reform as "very important" and support the broad principles of tax reform being advanced by conservatives in and out of Congress.