Trump’s tax reform bill will deliver for our businesses and families

House and Senate Republican negotiators have come to agreement over the terms of the first major reform of the tax code since Ronald Reagan was president, and many grassroots conservatives want to know, is this reform worth supporting?

The answer is a firm “yes.” Three years ago, Tea Party Patriots engaged our supporters across the country with a series of surveys designed to get their input on what issues they prioritized, and how they wanted us to address them.

{mosads}Significant numbers placed tax reform toward the top of their list, but when it came to exactly how the code should be reformed, we saw disagreement. Many wanted some form of flat tax, while others preferred the fair tax. Virtually all agreed, though, on three simple elements of tax reform.

First, reform should make the code simpler, flatter and fairer. The tax code has tripled in size over the last 30 years, and we now spend more than six billion hours and $400 billion per year just complying with the overly complex code. That time and money is wasted. Simplifying the code is essential.

Second, reform should cut taxes. The government already takes too much from us. Tax reform should allow us to keep more of the money we earn.

Third, reform should encourage economic growth. We cannot simply continue to muddle along and accept a measly 2 percent growth rate as “the new normal.” A proper reform will incentivize work, savings and investment to generate economic growth that leads to more and better-paying jobs.

The compromise legislation passes these three tests with flying colors. By eliminating or reducing a number of loopholes, it makes the system simpler. By raising the standard deduction, it will drive even more people to take that deduction, rather than itemize their deductions; that will simplify the system further.

It lowers the corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, and lowers rates on the individual side as well. It makes the system flatter. Moreover, according to the congressional scorekeepers, it will yield a $1.5 trillion tax cut over the next decade.

By cutting the corporate rate so dramatically, from its current position as the highest corporate rate in the industrialized world to below the average corporate rate in the industrialized world, investment dollars should flow to U.S. enterprises. Entrepreneurs and investors will bring money back to our shores, productivity will increase, and economic growth will be enhanced. That will lead to the creation of new and better-paying jobs.

Some of our supporters have asked us why we’re supporting legislation that, according to the scorekeepers, will add $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. That’s a fair question.

First, we don’t agree with the scorekeepers. We believe the pro-growth aspects of this tax reform will create significant economic growth, and that growth will generate additional revenues to the federal treasury above and beyond their projections. Their track record isn’t that good. When scoring the 2003 Bush tax cuts, for instance, the Joint Committee on Taxation projected massive revenue declines. In reality, federal tax revenues between 2003 to 2007 were $434 billion higher than the Joint Committee on Taxation had projected.

Second, we believe our nation will be much more likely to resolve our debt crisis if and when the economy begins to grow at a rate of 3 percent or more for a sustained period of time. The difference between the 2 percent growth rate average of the Obama years and the 4 percent growth average of the Reagan years is about $5 trillion over 10 years, in terms of revenues flowing to the federal treasury. In order to increase the revenue flow to the federal treasury, which will close the gap between revenues and spending that is represented as the deficit and debt, we need to grow the economy faster.

Third, We believe tax bills should be tax bills, and spending bills should be spending bills. We will continue to support the Penny Plan as a means to cut spending and balance the budget over five years.

Fourth, we believe that government’s difficulty in closing the gap between revenues and spending should not be an excuse to keep your taxes high. We support efforts to leave more money in the hands of the taxpayers who earned it.

Fifth, we are grassroots driven, and we ask our local leaders and most active activists to share their thoughts with us before we make any decisions to support particular issues and bills. We did that before engaging in this process.

Finally, our Yellow Card Project supported tax reform for a simpler code that reduces rates and grows the economy. This bill will do that. Consequently, we will urge Congress to support this tax reform bill and send it to President Trump’s desk for his signature.

Jenny Beth Martin is chairman of Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund.