PPI’s Will Marshall and Mike Derham have a new column on reforming the U.S. tax system in the Washington Times :
Americans want a tax system that is fair, simple and capable of raising the revenue we need to pay the nation’s bills. The one we have fails on all three counts.
That’s why President Obama will probably have to add comprehensive tax reform to his already jammed agenda.
The first imperative of reform is to restore progressivity, the keystone of a fairer tax system. Since there is a lot of fatuous talk about “socialism” in the air these days, it’s worth noting that progressive taxation, which dates back to 1913, is a deeply American tradition.
It recognizes that our free enterprise system couldn’t function properly without public laws, rules and investments in common goods like schools, roads, police and defense. Those citizens who reap the greatest rewards from our modern, mixed economy therefore have an obligation to give back, as Thomas Jefferson put it, in proportion to the bounty they have received.
Read the full column at the Washington Times.
