When 'tax reform' is warfare
To pay for massive business cuts, Congress has chosen some losers


This is the editor’s letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.
Do you pay your fair share of taxes? Unless your name is Warren Buffett, you probably feel quite certain that you pay more than your fair share, to make up for the undeserved tax breaks enjoyed by some other cosseted group — the rich, the 47 percent, corporate "fat cats," welfare "mooches." (Take your pick.) By design, our tax code is incomprehensibly byzantine, filled with loopholes, tax credits, and exemptions. The ability to manipulate who pays more and who pays less is Congress' greatest power, Katherine Mangu-Ward pointed out this week in The New York Times. "Politicians use the tax code to reward their friends [and] punish their enemies," she said. Congress is back at that game, with a major overhaul that dramatically cuts taxes for corporations, businesses, and heirs of multi-millionaires, and punishes blue states, upper-middle-class homeowners, the real estate industry, people with huge medical expenses, even adoptive parents. The trillions in business tax cuts will also be financed partly by borrowing money, pushing annual deficits from this year's $666 billion to more than $800 billion next year and $1 trillion by 2021.
When President Reagan signed the last major tax overhaul in 1986, it was enthusiastically supported by both parties. That reform bill was also designed to be revenue neutral, and paid for cutting top individual rates by raising capital gains taxes and eliminating many corporate loopholes and deductions. None of this is imaginable today: Bipartisan cooperation. Democrats agreeing to cut tax rates on the wealthy. Republicans agreeing to increase some taxes on businesses and investors. Fiscal sanity. In our far more polarized era, tax policy — like health-care policy, and everything Washington does — is simply partisan warfare. When the political infighting is over, you can be sure of this: The tax system will be no simpler. Will it be fairer? If you're a winner.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
William Falk is editor-in-chief of The Week, and has held that role since the magazine's first issue in 2001. He has previously been a reporter, columnist, and editor at the Gannett Westchester Newspapers and at Newsday, where he was part of two reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes.
-
Sen. Booker's 25-hour speech beats Thurmond
Speed Read He spoke for the longest time in recorded Senate history, protesting the Trump administration's policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bondi seeks death penalty for Luigi Mangione
Speed Read Mangione was charged with fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Democrats win costly Wisconsin court seat
Speed Read Democrats prevailed in an election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court despite Elon Musk's robust financial support of the Republican candidate
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published