Mike Pence’s speech yesterday to the Detroit Economic Club was his third major address on national issues in three months. Combined with his speech at Hillsdale College in September and his speech in Iowa in October, Pence has been setting forth proposals that might engage an electorate that wants something more than “hope and change.”
Yesterday Pence proposed a program he labeled “S.T.A.R.T.” — Sound monetary policy, Tax relief and reform, Access to American energy, Regulatory reform, and Trade — with a lengthy discussion of each topic. The section on taxes was a 1,500-word discussion that read in part:
In an upcoming study written by the legendary Dr. Art Laffer, Wayne Winegarden and John Childs, they found the cost of compliance with today’s tax code to be over $540 billion annually and that individuals and businesses spend 7.6 billion hours on their taxes. … The Laffer study predicts that by simplifying the tax code and cutting complexity costs in half, our economy would grow $1.3 trillion more over ten years than if we maintain the status quo. …
There is one system that [provides the necessary revenue without discouraging economic growth and imposing undue compliance burdens] … a flat tax. …
Individuals would pay taxes on their wages or salary after receiving a basic income exemption and an exemption for any dependents, including children and elderly family members and others who you care for in your home. Imagine how easy this would be for people. Gross income minus a generous standard deduction minus any dependent exemptions and you’ve got your taxable income. Apply the rate and your taxes are done. Everyone pays the same rate, and the more money you make, the more you pay. It’s fair, simple and effective.
We’ve heard this proposal before, and figures like $540 billion of compliance costs, 7.6 billion hours on taxes, and $1.3 trillion in projected economic growth deserve the same skepticism that properly greets projections of savings from eliminating “fraud, waste, and abuse” (or from enacting ObamaCare). The estimates are only as good as the assumptions underlying them — many of which are inherently speculative and none of which can be forecast accurately for 10 years (or even a few years). But Pence made the case that the time for a flat tax may be approaching:
A flat tax is in use in more than twenty countries around the world, and they have been proposed and supported by various legislators and economists in America over the past 30 years, such as Robert Hall and Alvin Rabushka, Dick Armey, Steve Forbes, Art Laffer, Jack Kemp and Richard Gephardt. We don’t think about it, but we already use flat taxes in America as taxes for Social Security, Medicare taxes, sales and property taxes. …
If you look back at history, the Kennedy, Reagan and 2001/2003 tax reforms were all followed by strong economic growth. The flat tax goes beyond these tax cuts and provides not just lower taxes but a greatly simplified system.
It is not clear that Pence wants to run for president; some think he plans to run for governor of Indiana (one of the other lessons of “hope and change” is that executive experience is at least as important for the presidency as the ability to give a good speech). He may simply want his ideas in the arena (a commentator who has written frequently about him describes him as fundamentally a man of ideas).
But we should know soon: the presidential race will start in roughly two months, if Barack Obama’s February 2007 presidential announcement is any indication of the lead time that now governs such a race.
Hmmmm.
If Obama is smart: Playing golf … in Scotland.
Gird your loins for Crazy Joe!
His job will be to appear at football games and get booed (as he did at last night’s Giants-Eagles game).
You mean being in charge of the Senate won’t keep the new Vice-President busy enough?
I’m willing to grant that Biden is “affable” and “mercilessly quotable.” But I haven’t seen much evidence of the great intelligence that everyone on the left–especially Joe Biden–ascribes to Joe Biden. He can talk a mile a minute, but most of what he says is repetition of the same ill-formed opinions he’s had for the past few decades.
Can someone explain to me why everyone in the media seems to grant that Joe Biden is highly intelligent? Probably just because he’s a Democrat. If he were a Republican, and spoke all the same gibberish, the left would lampoon him as an ill-informed buffoon.
Joe Biden won the Fay Diploma at Harvard after his Rhodes Scholarship and before his Supreme Court clerkship. His scholarly writings are frequently cited in the most important publications making his impact measurable and impressive.
How to bet use such extraordinary abilty is indeed a challange that our President-Elect will have to consider deeply.
You people need to start paying attention.
Another point: will the left finally admit that Biden was a poor choice for the VP slot? He certainly didn’t help win any votes, and this article is basically a confession that he’s virtually useless in the administration as well. So what was Joe good for? Will the press question Obama’s judgment like they questioned McCain’s? I’m not holding my breath.
The past two Republican Presidents have made great choices for VP. I know that the left despises no one (with the possible exception of Karl Rove) more than Dick Cheney, but no one can deny that he’s been an incredibly loyal guy who’s content to support the president with hard work behind the scenes, and he came into the job already immensely experienced and qualified. I was never a big fan of Bush Sr., but he at least gave Reagan, a governor, a direct connection to the Senate. I think Gore was a mediocre choice, who didn’t do much to help the ticket and didn’t do much in office either. Even on the environment, his signature issue, he had virtually no effect on the Clinton administration policy, and most of his activity has come after leaving office. Can anyone remember anything tangible Gore accomplished in office, other than inventing the internet?
Lest anyone be fooled by cavalier’s satire, Biden did not go to Harvard, there is no such thing as the Fay Diploma, he was not a Rhodes Scholar, he was not a Supreme Court clerk, and he has written no significant scholarship. Thank you for making the point, cavalier. Joe graduated in the bottom quarter of his class from the University of Delaware in Newark, and barely made it through law school at Syracuse after he was caught plagiarizing. The only evidence I’ve seen of Joe’s intelligence is that he won a moot court competition once. Big whoop. He was supposed to be this attack dog, this great authority on foreign affairs, and this intimidating intellect–yet he ended up being none of these things.
Joe Biden is bright? “three letter word – J-O-B-S” “France and the U.S kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon” “FDR gave a TV address in 1929″ The guy who has been wrong on every major foreign policy decision? Give me a break.
Ahithophel: “the past two Republican presidents” were both named Bush, the first of whom did not make a great choice for VP.
Joe Biden’s role is to be a lightening rod. His job is to be the idiot, the bad guy, the fool, the moron, the person who takes the hits for Obama, the fall guy, etc. This is actually a classic role of the VP- make him the bad guy, so you’re the good guy. Biden will be perfect in this role.
I give Obama one year before he gets a new Vice President.