We are beginning to here how the Democrats are going to cave on tax reform by using the closing of loopholes as an excuse to maintain the Bush rates.
President Obama and the Democrats are once more wanting the world to know that they are politically brain dead. There is an easy way to win the tax debate with the Republicans but Democrats are fixated on bipartisan budget cutting and "reforming" of the tax code. They talk about simplification and closing loopholes. Both sound well and good but this sort of talk comes up every 10 years and what minor changes get enacted are soon undermined.
This time they think they are going to be clever and reduce marginal rates while closing loopholes. It will be popular and when Republicans agree to a diluted version of it, who do you think will get the credit?
A better plan involves three components. First, instead of closing loopholes, just cap them. Call it the loophole limit lock box. Put an absolute limit on the total value of all deductions, exemptions and credit. Make it be say, 100K. Sell it by saying to the American people, "You know the fat cats' lobbyist and accountants are going to find a wiggle space so that if we close one loophole they will find another way out. So we are saying wiggle and make as many holes as you want but no matter what you take you're not getting a break of more than twice what average Americans make."
Second, reduce the number of margins to three numbers we can all remember: 10, 20, and 30. In addition impose a 10% surtax on all annual consumption over 1 million dollars. No way can they scream that Democrats are punishing "job creators" because these supposed job creators actually get a cut in their income taxes and get to keep more of their income if they invest rather than spend it.
Third, double the values of exemption, basic deduction and child tax credit and/or give tax payers the opportunity to replace their April paper work with a resident earned income tax credit voucher card (REITCV). Base this on the previous year's earned income like this: The first 25K in earned income gets a 40% ( up to $10000) credit on their REITCV card. The next 50K in earned income is rewarded with 30% up to $15000. The next $100K in earned income gets 20% up to $20000. The next $200K gets 10% up to $20000. The next $400K gets 5% up to $20000. All earned income above that gets 1% on the REITCV cards.
All of these measures truly simplify the tax code, encourage work and savings and does so in a progressive way. The REITCV card encourages reporting at all levels of income and maintains popular and productive incentives for things like education, home buying, energy efficiency, etc. Nobody is talking about such ideas because their brains are in park. All they know how to say is "targeted" tax cuts. Target away. It means you and I get shot and none of us are included in on any of the benefits. I, like millions of other nobodies, am wasting cyber breath.