Deep cuts, few details in Republicans’ plan
WASHINGTON — Republican leaders on Wednesday proposed slashing tax rates for the wealthy, the middle class and businesses while preserving popular tax deductions that encourage buying homes and giving to charity, according to a nine-page framework they hope will eventually unify the party behind a proposal to revamp the U.S. tax code.
But the document, titled “Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code,” leaves many key questions unanswered. In it, the White House and Republican congressional leaders do not identify the numerous tax breaks they say will be removed to offset some of the trillions of dollars in revenue lost by cutting tax rates.
The framework was presented to Republicans and the public Wednesday as a starting point for negotiations on a tax deal. Congress would have to vote the changes into law, and Republican leaders are now tasked with resolving controversial questions to unite their party — and possibly some Democrats — behind tax legislation.
President Trump has made rewriting the tax code a major part of his domestic agenda, and on Wednesday he urged his party on.
“This is a once-in-ageneration opportunity and I guess it’s something I could say that I’m very good at,” Trump said. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
Trump threatened to try to oust Democrats who don’t vote to approve his tax framework. He singled out Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., who is up for re-election next year, as a Democrat who would be targeted if he didn’t sign on to the GOP plan.
“We will come here, we will campaign against him like you wouldn’t believe,” Trump said.
The White House and GOP leaders negotiated for months and have agreed in large part only on the taxes they want to cut.
They propose, among other things, cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent and making it much easier for multinational companies to bring money earned overseas into the United States. This is roughly in line with a long-standing House Republican goal, though Trump has consistently pushed for the corporate rate to be lowered to 15 percent.
They also propose collapsing the seven individual income-tax brackets into three and allowing more people to qualify for the Child Tax Credit, designed to help low-income working families. Damian Paletta, Mike DeBonis and Carolyn Y. Johnson are Washington Post writers.