The Case for Tax Reform

Club for Growth and ATR Make the Case
for Lasting Tax Reform

“The budget window has traditionally been a decade.
But the Senate could make it 25 years.”

Washington, DC â€"Today, Club for Growth President David McIntosh and Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist penned an opinion editorial in The Wall Street Journal making the case for extending the budget window to 25 years or more.

Below is an excerpt of the op-ed, and the piece may be read in its entirety here.

Tax Cuts That Last â€" With 51 Votes

“Americans know what kind of tax reform they want: a bill that cuts rates across the board, kills the death tax and the alternative minimum tax, expands the personal and family exemptions, and eliminates politically directed loopholes. If lawmakers passed such a plan it would supercharge the economy and create millions of jobs.

The challenge is how to get from here to there, given the rules of Congress.

Tax reform can be enacted with a simple majority in the Senate under the process known as budget reconciliation… [A]ny tax reform meant to spur economic growth should be permanent so that businesses and entrepreneurs can plan ahead. If they don’t know what the rules will be a few years down the road it is tougher to build factories, hire new workers, invest in equipment, or spend on research and development.

Conventional wisdom says that the only way to pass lasting tax cuts is to offset them with corresponding tax increases, base broadening or, best of all, permanent spending cuts.

There’s another option: Extend the budget window to 25 yearsâ€"or more. The 10-year window is not set in stone. The Budget Act of 1974 simply says that the window has to be at least five years in duration.

The idea of modifying the time frame isn’t new, and it certainly isn’t radical. The budget window was expanded in 1995 from five years to seven, and then in 1999 to 10 years, where it has remained for no particularly good reason.

We say extend the budget window to 25 years. Why? Because the people creating jobs and investing in new products think long-term. Depreciation schedules for new plant and equipment often run to 25 years or more.

Lawmakers simply should write this year’s budget to say that all tax cuts can last 25 years, which would allow rate reductions to go into effect now and be offset later with revenue from higher growth or spending restraint.”

“… As President Trump says, “prime the pump” now and the economy will start to flow, creating millions of jobs and more tax money for Washington… Extending the budget window to 25 years would cut the Gordian knot, unravel the Byrd Rule and allow serious tax reform to create millions of jobs in the years to come.”

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The Club for Growth is the nation’s leading group promoting economic freedom through legislative involvement, issue advocacy, research, and education.
The Club’s website can be found at http://www.clubforgrowth.org/