Editorial Board
Converging on Tax-Reform Nonsense
Why are House and Senate Republicans so proud of their plans to change the tax code?
Please, hold the applause.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesRepublicans in Congress appear to have reached agreement on several crucial points about tax reform. First, it should add to the budget deficit. Second, it should contain countless gimmicks to disguise its true fiscal impact. And third, it should make an insanely complicated tax code even more so.
As both houses moved closer last week to passing a comprehensive new tax law, Speaker Paul Ryan heralded it as "a generation-defining moment." He may well be right. It could take at least that long for his party to recover from this debacle.