The Senate releasing some details of its tax plan gives us another moving target that will morph and change daily. America could have a growing economy that would affect generations to come, and if this reform passes by the end of this year, we could see a conservative-controlled Washington for at least a generation. Unfortunately, most Republicans haven’t figured this out yet.
The original notion of tax reform was to transform corporate taxes so America could become more competitive as a nation—a place where corporations could feel comfortable to stay right here. This new corporate tax rate would bring corporations from around the world—that are doing business in the largest economy in the world—to set up shop here and hire workers without the penalty of the second largest tax rate in the world.
It is looking more unlikely each day that Republicans will get this done in 2017. It will take an enormous amount of unity, understanding and support of President Trump’s pro-growth, pro-American and pro-business agenda to make it happen.
No one seems to be talking about one of the biggest problems on Capitol Hill—the fact that lobbyists and special interest groups will delay tax reform. Remember, many people making millions of dollars are also paying lobbyists millions of dollars to make sure their agendas are passed, primarily because the complexities of the tax code have been a very good thing for far too many people.
Few seem to be willing to examine exactly how the money trail is going to our Republican lawmakers who dare to pretend they are representing what is right for the American people. You may have noticed that with each passing day, a little more complexity is added back into the tax bill. The idea of doing our taxes on a postcard and the elimination of thousands of workers in the offices of the IRS is nothing more than a pipe dream of a few truly conservative Americans working on Capitol Hill.
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The Republican Party has been incapable of making progress on any significant issue of the past decade, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon. Because of their total inability after six years of saying they were ready to repeal and replace Obamacare, small businesses will be facing ongoing mandates at a time when they are finally getting on their feet again in this growing economy. It seems irrational to even think we might depend upon Republicans to do what they promised.
The IRS announced this week that the agency will be enforcing the Obamacare regulation that any company with more than 50 employees must provide health care for all employees. Republicans only need another six years, and I’m sure then they will be able to pass health care reform. By the way, blaming Democrats and President Obama won’t work. Make no mistake about it, the blame for health care, economic woes for small businesses and economic dysfunction lies squarely on the shoulders of Republicans—just like economic success would if they had the ability to get things done.
The opportunity to fundamentally change America in a positive way for future generations with a conservative Washington, D.C., for the next generation seems to embrace the very thing that our Republican representatives care about most. That is getting reelected and maintaining their control and power. So, with that in mind, you would think they would be able to come together long enough to get tax reform done. But, again, it continues to seem more unlikely than ever. And I don’t believe the markets will be quite as naïve to believe that the first order of business in 2018 will be to pass tax reform.
There is certainly a remnant of Republicans who understand this, but unfortunately, the remnant continues to grow smaller each passing day. I suspect they don’t believe they can do this by themselves. But with prodding from the American voter and the shutdown of the switchboard on Capitol Hill every day, maybe we could encourage the remnant and motivate the other representatives to represent the American people on what is right for our nation.
When you’ve sat on your hands for ten years and gotten away with doing nothing but waxing eloquent and adopting the agenda of the liberal media and the Democrats, it becomes very difficult to get back to work. The dysfunction in Washington we continue to see is an effect of the cause—and the cause is lack of leadership, which also results in a lack of unity, as many Republicans are more consumed with maintaining the establishment than getting anything done.
After all, many politicians are working hard to appease many different lobbyists, agendas and special interest groups as they look forward to the next legislative break. Yes, there is a remnant—men and women that we are blessed to have serving on Capitol Hill representing we the people—and we need to lift them up and encourage more like them to throw their hats into the ring.
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