Great discussion on Wonkbook on the suddenly hot topic of tax reform, as encapsulated in one small business owner’s quote:
‘Get rid of the deductions that don’t affect me.’
“Revenue neutral” tax reform means there are winners and losers. Some will pay more, some less. Guess who? Think for a minute how many lobbyists in Washington are paid to represent the interests of low- and middle-income taxpayers in this debate.
Hard-core Republicans, of course, just want cuts — in all taxes and all of government. But that only engenders a new discussion on services, with this imagined quote:
Get rid of only the government services that don’t affect me.
Those services won’t mean to the lobbyist community advanced weapon systems, farm subsidies and other corporate-friendly government spending, from research and infrastructure to preferential tax treatment.
Here’s the New York Times article on President Obama’s ideas with the quote that launched Wonkbook’s discussion.
The video above is President Obama talking to a crowd at an Amazon distribution center in Chattanooga about his plan. The cheers indicate the Walter Hussman editorial page staff at the Chattanooga newspaper were, if on hand, drowned out.