Senate's Tax Plan Fixes Some House Mistakes

Senate Republicans are releasing their own version of tax reform. Based on what I have heard, it has a family resemblance to the one their House colleagues are getting ready for a vote. But the differences suggest that the senators have learned two lessons from the reception to the House bill.

Both bills are based on a “framework” to which the White House, House Republicans and Senate Republicans agreed. Both cut tax rates on income for corporations and pass-through businesses, and both allow business investment to be written off more rapidly. Both expand the standard deduction, a move that delivers middle-class tax relief (or softens the blow of other steps that raise taxes for some middle-class households) and reduces the number of people who itemize.