Mark Twain is credited for saying, “Do the right thing. It will
gratify some people and astonish the rest.”
I would never call the American people “naïve” for believing
that a politician would follow through on the promises made while
on the campaign trail. But they are often pleasantly surprised when
one of those politicians actually believes he should make good on
commitments to voters.
The 2010 Republican campaign platform, known as “The Pledge to
America,” contained many laudable and worthwhile goals, including
promises to cut $100 billion of spending in the first year of a
Republican majority, renew transparency and openness in the
law-making process, and stop permanently all job-killing tax
hikes.
The promised cuts never happened. In fact, Congress committed to
spending more in Fiscal Year 2012 than it had in Fiscal Year 2011.
And this Congress took out another $2.1 trillion in debt to be
repaid by future generations. Sure, requirements to reduce spending
were included in the overall package, but to this date, nothing has
been cut. To make matters worse, efforts are underway to delay or
cancel these planned cuts before they even take place.
Sunlight shined for a few months—notably during the lengthy
floor debate and open amendment process for H.R. 1—but disappeared
soon thereafter. The 72-hour rule, a commitment to give the public
three days to examine bills before considering them, was set aside
for some of the most expensive pieces of legislation, including the
December 2011 “megabus.”
When it comes to tax reform, Republicans still have a chance to
make good on their promise. But the clock is ticking. The U.S. now
suffers from the highest corporate tax rate in the world, coupled
with the looming expiration of the Bush-Obama tax cuts at the end
of this year, when income, capital gains, and death taxes will all
increase. On top of that, the Social Security tax holiday expires
at the end of December. And we cannot forget about non-tax issues
coming in the next few months: the debt ceiling will be breached
again, and it is unlikely a budget will be in place for the fiscal
year beginning October 1.
When the House passed the “Path to Prosperity” budget drafted by
my colleague, Rep. Paul Ryan, “tax reform” was included, but in
name only. The bill lacked a provision that would have required a
later House vote on such reform, which meant that its proposal was
merely a few words on a page. For that reason, I was one of two
Republicans on the Budget Committee who opposed the Ryan budget in
committee, and one of ten House Republicans to oppose it on the
floor.
No doubt Ryan deserves praise and recognition for his
willingness to offer a bold budget. Finally someone in Washington
is talking about the fiscal crisis that is already bad, and about
to get worse as a result of out-of-control entitlement spending.
Unfortunately, he is up against establishment forces that prefer
not to rock the boat, and hope that things will just quiet down
until after the election.
While many in Washington talk about the need for comprehensive
tax reform to provide some much-needed “certainty,” there is not a
plan—let alone any action—for turning this talk into reality. Soon
enough, December will roll around, and a lame-duck Congress (and,
hopefully, a lame-duck President) will have to sort out the mess
with little political incentive to make bold changes.
One way to avoid the end-of-year looming tax hikes is to make
permanent the Bush-Obama tax cuts. I have introduced The American
Opportunity and Freedom Act (H.R. 3804) to ensure income and
capital gains taxes remain at the rates families have enjoyed for
the past decade. This legislation repeals the death tax and
alternative minimum tax, and prevents the Obamacare taxes from
going into effect in 2014.
It is to the political advantage of Republicans to push for
comprehensive tax reform now, not after the election. After all, it
is one of the few remaining opportunities to fulfill a promise made
to voters just two years ago. Let’s gratify some, astonish the
rest, and get tax reform done once and for all.
