Tax troubles

Lack of leadership dooms irresponsible rush-job changes to the federal code.

How do you know that Donald Trump’s tax plan is going nowhere? Because there’s no one in charge. Trump released his proposals for the personal and corporate tax code Wednesday despite the fact that key positions in the U.S. Treasury Department remain empty. We’re nearly 100 days into his term, but there’s still no one serving as assistant secretary for tax policy, deputy assistant secretary for tax policy or deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis. That’s like a new football coach starting the season without hiring an offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator or special teams coordinator — not exactly a serious strategy if you want to win.

If we had to guess, Trump just wanted to claim he got out a plan before his selfimposed 100-day deadline on Saturday. An allnighter rush job is no way to treat the tax code for the world’s largest economy.

Like most of the president’s policies, this tax plan is big on bluster and vague on the specifics. However, we do know that it slashes taxes for millionaires and billionaires while eliminating the property tax deduction that helps Texas families afford their homes. It also would send the deficit skyrocketing, earning the ire of philanthropist John Arnold — a familiar name among Houston’s fiscal responsibility circles.

“I don’t understand what problem the corp tax cut is trying to solve that is worth the risks of significantly compounding the federal deficit,” Arnold tweeted on Tuesday.

You might as well compare Trump’s tax plan to Houston’s 2001 pension reform, which gave millions to a special few while digging a ditch for taxpayers.

And who is among Trump’s special few? The man in the mirror. Trump would likely see his own taxes slashed if his plan is passed. Nobody really knows because the president has refused to release his tax returns.

Reporters asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin three times how the tax proposal would affect Trump himself, and three times Mnuchin refused to answer.

Our corporate tax code is in need of serious reform. The United States has one of the highest corporate rates in the world, but the code is riddled with holes that allow about two-thirds of companies to pay no taxes, according to the Government Accountability Office. President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans failed to hash out a revenueneutral deal to fix this system, and now it looks like Trump isn’t really going to try. Even members of his own party have deemed his plan unrealistic, according to Politico’s Ben White and Nancy Cook.

That’s the theme in Washington these days — tax plans that go nowhere.

The Woodlands’ own U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady has run into trouble with a proposed Border Adjustment Tax, or BAT. The tax would put an extra 20 percent surcharge on all imports into our country. No state has benefitted more from the rise in post-Cold War international trade than Texas, from our busy Gulf Coast ports to boomtowns on the Mexican border to factories linked on a transnational supply chain. He might as well propose a tax on Shiner Beer and Blue Bell ice cream.

Little surprise that plenty of Texas Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have already lined up against the border proposal. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says he has “concerns.” Those few Texas politicians who have backed the bill, such as Houston’s own U.S. Rep. John Culberson, are facing an onslaught of attack ads from anti-tax groups.

At this point, it looks like the Woodlands Republican has spent his congressional seniority on the House Ways and Means Committee pushing a BAT that’s DOA.

Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency, but still can’t seem to get anything done.

You’ve got to wonder who, exactly, is in charge up there.

Like most of the president’s policy, this tax plan is big on bluster and vague on the specifics.