The House GOP's tax bill is a dud — and they know it

The Senate would do well to just ignore it completely

Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy speak about tax code
(Image credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

​Republican senators should thank their House counterparts for their hard work on the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" — and then pretty much ignore the plan.

Indeed, there are already signs that will likely happen to a large extent. Not long after the much-awaited proposal was released on Thursday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) released a statement saying that while they "appreciate the hard work" of their colleagues, they want a larger expansion of the child tax credit. And other senators might want additional things: Some might push for deeper tax cuts for small business. Others might reject new limits on the mortgage deduction and the state and local tax deduction.

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James Pethokoukis

James Pethokoukis is the DeWitt Wallace Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he runs the AEIdeas blog. He has also written for The New York Times, National Review, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, and other places.