HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/POLITICS/TAXES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Picking themselves up after the bruising collapse of their health care plan, President Trump and Republicans in Congress will start this week on a legislative obstacle course that will be even more arduous: the first overhaul of the tax code in three decades.
Mr. Trump’s inability to make good on his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act has made the already daunting challenge of tax reform even more difficult. Not only has Mr. Trump’s aura of political invincibility been shattered, but without killing the Affordable Care Act, Republicans will be unable to rewrite the tax code in the sweeping fashion that the president has called for.
The grand plans of lower rates, fewer loopholes and a tax on imports may have to be scaled back to a big corporate tax cut and possibly an individual tax cut.
A lot of people think Mr. Trump might go for this to get an easy win.
‘They have to have a victory here,’ said Stephen Moore, a Heritage Foundation economist who advised Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign. ‘But it is going to have to be a bit less ambitious rather than going for the big bang.’
Because of the arcane rules of lawmaking in Congress, there may be little choice. If Republicans intend to act again without the help of Democrats, they will need to use a procedure called budget reconciliation to have the Senate pass tax legislation with a simple majority. To make their changes to the tax code permanent, their plans cannot add to deficits over a period of 10 years.”
-Alan Rapport, “Dealt a Defeat, Republicans Set Their Sights on Major Tax Cuts,” The New York Times online, March 26, 2017