Bring Back Reagan Economics

There has been a lot of print dedicated to our economy, taxes, the war on terror, immigration and. most recently, tax cuts affecting benefits, health care, welfare programs, and the like. Many of these issues have swirled around the upcoming presidential election and the candidates’ respective positions. Frankly, none of the GOP candidates, nor Barack Obama, seem to have all of the solutions refined. I would like to hear our incumbent, or one of the Presidential hopefuls, state realistic policy positions and perspectives on our current state of affairs as viewed by the majority of the citizenry.

At the core of a number of issues is America’s tax code, which frankly is an industrial mess. The code is needlessly complex because of deductions, credits, exceptions, date enablers, and loopholes. As a result, our government’s huge size is a direct result of this burden of administering the complexity of the IRS code and its subsequent enforcement (tax courts, attorneys, judgments, liens, garnishments, etc.).

Speaking as an ardent fan of former President Ronald Reagan, I would like to suggest that the candidates reconsider elements of the Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) of 1981, the Reagan tax cuts. As some of us will recall, the core proposal was a 25% decrease in personal marginal tax rates. The Reagan tax cuts showed that reducing excessive tax rates stimulates economic growth, reduces tax evasion and tax avoidance schemes, and can actually increase tax revenues from the rich. We absolutely need tax reform that is fair, simplified, flat, low, and easy to administer.