DALLAS - The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) enthusiastically commends Congress for finally passing a pro-growth tax reform that represents a much needed reduction in taxes on investment capital and will make the U.S. economy much more globally competitive.
IPI president Tom Giovanetti issued the following statement:
“While there are many who deserve credit for this tremendous outcome, two names in particular stand out. One is House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, who has been working toward this day for years, crafting the details of tax reform, building consensus for specific provisions, and keeping a clear vision of the ultimate purpose of tax reform, which is economic growth.
The other is President Donald Trump, whose election made pro-growth tax reform possible. Nobody believes anything approaching this reform would have been possible under Hillary Clinton, so all of the benefits of tax reform that will accrue to the American people over the next several years were made possible because of President Trump’s election.
But the president deserves even more credit. Trump made tax reform a major theme of his campaign, and in the process sold his voters on the truth that lowering taxes on business would benefit them. This is a rhetorical success that has eluded conservative tax reformers ever since Ronald Reagan. And by insisting on a lower corporate rate than most tax reformers thought possible, Trump shifted the reality of what was politically possible, which is a lesson that Republicans badly need to learn.
Now we begin Phase Two of the great economic stimulus comparison. In 2009 when Barack Obama became president, the economy was in terrible shape. Republicans pleaded with Obama to include tax cuts in his stimulus plan. Obama famously refused, saying’I won,’ and proceeded with a gigantic, Keynesian borrow-and-spend stimulus plan that failed at stimulating growth but succeeded in doubling the national debt. Never during the eight years of the Obama administration did economic growth ever reach 3 percent.
This time, Republicans have the opportunity to demonstrate that cutting taxes and reducing regulations is the path to increased economic growth. Two years from now the evidence will be there for everyone to see, if empirical results matter.”