NEWS
Repeal and Replace May Have Failed Anyway
Pundits have posited every imaginable reason for the failure of the GOP to get their health care reform bill through the first big hurdle: passage on the House floor. As we all know too well, Speaker Ryan pulled the bill just minutes before a vote was scheduled, when it was absolutely clear that a majority of support could not be reached. But would success have ushered in a new health care paradigm? I doubt it.
Trump and House Tax Plans Have One Thing in Common: They Likely Hit Nonprofits Hard
“If the tax incentive [for charitable giving] goes away, people will still undoubtedly give to charity, said Alex Brill, research fellow at AEI who published the findings. The AEI model accounts for it. But gifts from wealthy donors could decrease significantly. ‘There’s consensus that the tax break definitely matters. People are always going to quibble about the exact magnitude of the impact,’ Brill said, citing end-of-the-year giving as one example.
‘Ambitious’ and ‘Aggressive’ Timing for Mnuchin’s Tax Plan May Not Play Out, Experts Say
“The Trump administration could face some trouble getting its tax reform through by August, [said] Alex Brill…. ‘There’s only so much that Congress can process at the same time. I was very pleased to hear [Treasury Secretary Mnuchin] put an emphasis and a priority on tax reform, an aggressive schedule of a bill signing in August, but we do need to recognize that there’s a whole other conversation in Washington about [Affordable Care Act] repeal, repeal and replace, or repeal and repair that is potentially in conflict,’ simply due to time constraints, Brill said.”
MGA’s Alex Brill on CNBC’s Squawk Box
“Tax reform is by definition a game about winners and losers. If there aren’t winners and losers, it’s not tax reform. So there should be no surprise that there are people who are upset about the things that are being discussed, but that doesn’t make it a bad idea…. The idea…is to create a level playing field. There are winners and losers today as a result of the tax code, and if we can clean that system up, we can create fairness between debt and equity, between corporate and non-corporate, between domestically domiciled corporations and foreign competitors.”
Border Adjustment Tax: $260 Billion More Than You Thought
If the House Republican plan for a border adjustment tax were adopted, many large U.S. multinationals and others net exporters would receive more tax subsidy on their exports than tax owed on their other business activities. Without refundable credits, a 20% border adjustment tax would actually yield $260 billion in revenue beyond the expected $1 trillion.
MGA’s Alex Brill Contributes to Nonpartisan Report Offering Menu of Options to Policymakers on Social Insurance Programs
In an ambitious new report released today, the National Academy of Social Insurance provides detailed, evidence-based analyses on a range of policy options for modernizing the nation’s social insurance system.
MGA’s Alex Brill Serves as a Panelist at Opportunity America’s “This Way Up: Economic Mobility for Poor and Middle-Class Americans”
At an event on conservative policies for helping poor and middle-class Americans, Alex Brill discussed how best to promote upward mobility: “I think that in the long run, if we provide some relief or assistance to those workers and those families without the kind of structural reforms that Speaker Ryan was talking about — closing the skills gap and things like that — then what are we going to do ten years from now when those people aren’t moving up through the system?”
Trump Tax Plan Could Negatively Impact Giving
President Trump’s proposal to cap itemized deductions would cause a drop in charitable giving. For those giving above the cap, the net cost would jump from $0.60 per $1 of giving to an unsubsidized $1 per $1 of giving. Because a 1% increase in the price yields a 1% drop in giving, $17.6 billion in annual giving could evaporate.
MGA’s Alex Brill Serves as a Panelist at the National Coalition on Health Care’s Capitol Hill Forum
From the Coalition to Protect Patient Choice:
“The last panelist was Alex Brill… [who] spoke about FDA reform and specifically about patent issues relating to biologic drugs and their generic counterparts known as biosimilars. He stated that biosimilar entry has not been as robust as was envisioned by the Affordable Care Act, due to archaic regulatory schemes, anticompetitive conduct, and cost-benefit analysis.”
MGA’s Alex Brill Serves as a Panelist at AEI’s “Setting Priorities for Governing”
From AEI:
“Alex Brill expressed optimism regarding the incoming Congress’ ability to enact pro-growth tax reform and endorsed the Ryan-Brady tax plan. However, he acknowledged that achieving bipartisan cooperation on this front will be challenging.”
Trump Transition Team Lineup Hints at Future Treasury Pick
“Whoever Trump settles on for his Cabinet pick will be tasked with enormous responsibilities and likely face fierce opposition during the Senate confirmation process by progressive senators like Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., particularly if the nominee comes from a Wall Street background, according to Alex Brill of the American Enterprise Institute.”
Tax Reform: Ryan-Brady Plan Is a Better Way
The Ryan-Brady tax plan lowersstatutory tax rates, maintains a progressive income tax, and dramatically reduces the marginal tax rate on new investment. The plan will simplify compliance with the tax code by increasing the number of filers choosing not to itemize deductions. The plan’s individual income tax reforms approach revenue neutrality at the end of the budget window.
Who Will Pay for Hillary Clinton’s Tax-Code Social Engineering?
Hillary Clinton wants to double the child tax credit for children under 5 and increase the refundability of the credit for more low-income households. Her proposal will further exacerbate the tax disparity between childless households and families with young children. And, by adding substantially to the federal deficit, the policy will shift the cost of raising today’s children onto future generations.
6 Things to Know about Hillary Clinton’s New Child Tax Credit Expansion
Hillary Clinton proposes doubling the child tax credit for children under 5 (from $1,000 to $2,000) and expanding the refundability of the credit to lower-income families. Her proposal 1) is expensive, 2) increases the deficit, 3) is unfair to childless taxpayers, 4) benefits a narrow group, 5) has an arbitrary cutoff, and 6) is just the beginning.
Broaden the Base — A Tax Reform Visualizer
To broaden the tax base, lawmakers will need to do more than close obscure tax loopholes. They will need to limit itemized deductions. These tax breaks costabout $176 billion in 2016 or enough to finance a nearly 13% tax cut for every individual income tax bracket. And they add significant complexity to the tax code.