Trump and Congress need to make a tax code that’s fair

Beware the billionaire’s bombast when it comes to a promise to help out the middle class with a simpler tax code. Over many years through many presidents, the middle class has awaited promised tax relief that always seems to wind up being more relief for big business and the wealthy.

So President Trump’s early volleys about the “self-destructive tax code” in the United States and the need to cut more unnecessary regulations are not going to cause middle-class hearts to flutter, though such promises may get Wall Street hearts a-thumping. Trump promises to work with Congress, something he hasn’t shown much of an inclination to do thus far.

And while there’s some virtue to his idea of lowering the business tax rate, now high in relative terms globally, a cut from 35 percent to 15 percent surely is more of a starting point than anything else. America can’t afford to throw away billions in tax revenue to please business while infrastructure is crumbling. And will the president’s promises about helping the middle class also mean raising some taxes on the country’s millionaires and billionaires? That should happen, but the notion always seems to fall apart when the votes are taken in Congress.

For now, however, the debate will be interesting – and perhaps it will take Trump’s mind off his ridiculous, and expensive, border wall.

This story was originally published August 31, 2017 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Trump and Congress need to make a tax code that’s fair."