NTUF's Dan Barrett and NTU's Nan Swift join the podcast to discuss the latest legislation, tax reform bills, and record federal revenues. NTU President Pete Sepp on 68 policy leaders sending a message to Congress to reform the tax code now! Plus, the Outrage of the Week!
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Show notes:
More tax revenue, more spending:
- First Time Every: Federal Tax Revenues Top $1 Trillion Thru January; Gov't Stil Runs $184B Deficit via CNS
Pete Sepp, NTU President, and Nan Swift, NTU's Federal Affairs Manager, talk about an open letter signed by more than 60 organizations to make Congress to reform the Tax Code and help American innovation and competitiveness.
Nan highlights what Team Taxpayer supports as the 114th Congress gets under way:
- Keystone Pipeline
- Represenatitives and Senators joined together in passing legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline to bring tens of thousands of jobs in many sectors of the economy:
- Obamacare Repeal
- Both the House and Senate passed bills to repeal the Affordable Care Act and NTU openly endorsed both chambers' actions:
Dan Barrett, NTU Foundation's Research & Outreach Manager, details the latest BillTally scores and what's in the new Taxpayer's Tab:
- Tab Issue 6: America's Tax System: Complex, Comvoluted, and Costly
- This week, the Foundation examined some of the fundamental tax reform proposals in play right now in Congress, including:
- Flat Tax: Senator Shelby is expected to reintroduce the SMART Act, which would institute a 17% flat income tax system for Americans above the poverty line. NTUF estimates that it would mean an $86 billion spending cut (because it would repeal refundable tax credits).
- Fair Tax: Rep. Woodall and Senator Moran introduced the measure that would repeal all income-based federal taxes and establish a consumption-based system. On net, the propsoal would cut the budget by $96.4 billion over five years.
- Tax Code Termination: Rep. Goodlatte sponsored a bill to replace the current code with a new "simple and fair" one by July 4th, 2019 or else face a repeal of the entire code. This is a procedure and would not change spending, under BillTally rules.
- "Fair Share": Rep. Cicilline presented the Paying a Fair Share Act that called for repealing "unfair and unnecessary" tax loopholes and also add a minimum 30% income tax on Americans making more than $1 million in a year. This bill is focused on revenues, which is not the focus of BillTally.
- This week, the Foundation examined some of the fundamental tax reform proposals in play right now in Congress, including:
- Tab Issue 4: New and Old Legislation in the 114th Congress
- Two weeks ago, Director of Research Demian Brady highlighted the bills that NTUF has already scored in the opening month of the 114th Congress. Check out the largest and smallest spending bills introduced so far as well as a complete list of what the Foundation has tallied in 2015.
- NTU Foundation's BillTally Project
- NTUF scores every bill as introduced in Congress for changes in spending. Each Congress introduces thousands of bills and Foundation researchers are continually working to get you the most up-to-date fiscal picture of Washington, D.C.'s plans.
This week's outrage:
- Top USAID contractor allegedly billed taxpayers for Redskins tickets, alcohol via The Washington Post
- USAID suspends IRD, its largest nonprofit contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan via The Washington Post