Jim Rubens on Tax Reform

Don't raise taxes, but means-test retirement benefits

A: No, but fully means test Social Security and Medicare

Pro-growth tax swap: simplify & reform anti-jobs tax code

But, in a break with the past, we must pay for these tax cuts--without growing government, without printing more money, and without loading our children and grandchildren with more government debt. We can swap job-killing payroll and corporate taxes dollar for dollar with a revenue-neutral carbon tax.

I am principled, but not rigid. Conservative economists almost universally condemn America's byzantine, anti-jobs tax code, preferring a simpler system which imposes necessary taxes on consumption, rather than on work & income. This is why many conservatives support the Fair Tax, a national retail sales tax.

Taxpayer Protection Pledge: no new taxes.

Politicians often run for office saying they won't raise taxes, but then quickly turn their backs on the taxpayer. The idea of the Pledge is simple enough: Make them put their no-new-taxes rhetoric in writing.

In the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, candidates and incumbents solemnly bind themselves to oppose any and all tax increases. While ATR has the role of promoting and monitoring the Pledge, the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is actually made to a candidate's constituents, who are entitled to know where candidates stand before sending them to the capitol. Since the Pledge is a prerequisite for many voters, it is considered binding as long as an individual holds the office for which he or she signed the Pledge.

Since its rollout with the endorsement of President Reagan in 1986, the pledge has become de rigeur for Republicans seeking office, and is a necessity for Democrats running in Republican districts.