Politics: The GOP Dilemma-Voters Have Soured on Tax Cut Ideas

The writer, James Pethokoukis, scribbles for the American Enterprise Institute while maintaining an intellectual honesty that is almost unknown elsewhere in hyperpartisan-policy-land.
From the AEI:

...So Senator Ted Cruz is the first official 2016 White House racer, and perhaps the Texas Republican will offer a few specific policy ideas during his announcement speech later today. He did, though, outline a possible campaign agenda in this late 2014 USA Today op-ed:

First, embrace a big pro-jobs, growth agenda. … Second, pursue all means possible to repeal Obamacare. …  Third, secure the border and stop illegal amnesty. … Fourth, hold government accountable and rein in judicial activism. … Fifth, stop the culture of corruption … Sixth, pass fundamental tax reform, making taxes flatter, simpler, and fairer. … Seventh, audit the Federal Reserve. … Eighth, pass a strong balanced budget amendment.  … Ninth, repeal Common Core, so that local curriculum is not mandated by Washington bureaucrats. … Tenth, deal seriously with the twin threats of ISIL and a nuclear Iran.

Let’s focus on the tax bit. I have written previously that Republican politicians have a big political problem. Their economic agendas typically center on cutting taxes. But GOP-style tax reform seems out of sync with modern voter preferences. For instance, one 2014 poll found that 58% of voters though raising the minimum wage would boost economic growth vs. roughly 40% who thought tax cuts for business and rich folks would do the trick.

A new Pew survey tells a similar story:  just 27% of American adults say the amount they pay in taxes “bothers them a lot,” with 44% complaining about tax complexity. On the other hand, more than 60% say they are irked by their belief that rich people and corporations don’t pay enough.

Here is Cruz in 2013: “We ought to abolish the IRS and instead move to a simple flat tax. Put down how much you earn, put down a deduction for charitable contributions, for home mortgage, and how much you owe. It ought to be just a simple, one-page postcard.” Now I would guess a Cruz flat tax plan would sharply reduce the tax burden for the wealthy and corporations even as it simplified the code. (Such a plan would also likely mean a big increase in the budget deficit without offsetting spending cuts or higher middle-class taxes.)...MORE

Also on the Pethokoukis blog:

The economic challenges of ‘hyperaging’ economies
More on how cheaper oil will affect Texas and the rest of fracking America