House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp has decided to propose a draft tax reform bill, but don't hold your breath, because even before he's officially unveiled it, Republicans are declaring its death, from
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to DC-insider Tony Fratto, who put it best on Twitter:
Apparently, the issue is that Camp's bill would impose a small amount of taxes on big Wall Street banks. Politico
describes Camp's move as "Republicans take on Wall Street," but given the horror with which many in the GOP view Camp's move, it might be better described as "Republicans reject attack on Wall Street."
Perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of the whole debate is this amusing admission from one House Republican aide about how Republicans usually handle tax reform discussions:
“Tax reform is hard,” one House Republican aide said. “This is why nobody likes to put these specifics on a piece of paper — you have to [screw] somebody. There’s a magical belief among some of our members that you can lower the rate to 25 percent by just eliminating unpopular deductions. The math doesn’t work. You have to end up [screwing] somebody.”
Given that the one thing most Republicans seem to agree on is that their own tax committee chairman's proposal is going nowhere, maybe the GOP's real problem is that they just haven't decided who they want to screw.
8:40 AM PT: House Speaker John Boehner waxes bizarre on Camp's bill:
"Blah, blah, blah, blah."
That was House Speaker John A. Boehner's response Wednesday to a question about the details of a proposed overhaul to the nation's tax code, a subject that he says he's happy to have Congress discuss even if he's steering clear of specifics.