The Democrats’ Cynical Ploy

In an opportunistic change of heart — or rhetoric — Democratic leaders like Representative Chris Van Hollen and Senator Kent Conrad have suggested that a tax-reform proposal advanced by Mitt Romney during the presidential campaign may be a critical part of any bargain to address the “fiscal cliff.” That’s right: The same Romney tax plan that President Obama called a “sketchy deal” during the fall campaign has now become the one policy option that might avert disaster.

The only problem is that Democrats aren’t actually considering anything even close to the proposal that Romney floated during the campaign.
The premise of Romney’s tax plan was that broadening the base of taxable income, and simultaneously lowering rates across the board, could generate economic growth while retaining the progressivity of the tax code. Romney proposed a 20 percent rate cut that would be financed, in part, by capping or limiting deductions, exemptions, and other tax breaks, particularly for wealthier taxpayers. One of the specific ideas he floated during the campaign was limiting a taxpayer’s total deductions to a fixed dollar amount.

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/333502/democrats-cynical-ploy-lanhee-j-chen