Lower taxes for some, but certainly not all:
Many of the provisions strike us as outright cronyism – whether subsidizing alternative energy or giving privileged treatment to industries like Hollywood and NASCAR. Even some of the more well-intentioned measures bring with them baleful consequences, such as tax credits for college tuition that have the practical effect of inflating the cost of higher education….
That doesn’t change the fact, however, that tax breaks of this kind are deeply distortive and tend to disproportionately benefit the privileged and well-connected. That’s why their future renewal should be taken up on a piece-by-piece basis, with Congress disposing of the more outrageous giveaways.
We continue to believe that the fairest, most economically efficient approach to taxation is to apply low (and, ideally, flat) rates to as much of the citizenry as possible, removing the bramble of deductions and credits that make filing a return an exercise in frustration. Such a system would promote economic growth and strip much of the power from the lobbyists who too often bend the tax code to suit the needs of their employers.
Via Editorial: Get crony capitalism out of tax code @ The Orange County Register.