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Deficit scolds want big tax cuts now

From New York, the GOP health-care bill was a mess — the GOP’s tax plans are messier (and more); Trump lavishes praise on Reagan tax reform he once called a “catastrophe”; and Trump doesn’t have tax plan, does have plan to lie about it. With Houston underwater, Trump turns a policy speech into a taxpayer-funded campaign rally. Republicans want to stop talking about white supremacists so they can cut taxes for rich people. Trump tries to make tax cuts for rich people sound populist (and more). Joseph Stiglitz on why tax cuts for the rich solve nothing. Did the rich really pay much higher taxes in the 1950s? The answer is a little complicated.

Ryan J. Clements (Duke): Trump’s “Big-League” Tax Reform: Assessing the Impact and Constitutionality of the President’s Proposed Changes. It’s a myth that corporate tax cuts mean more jobs. Gary Cohn: Only “morons” pay the estate tax. Paul Ryan’s postcard tax return is really dumb. Are Republicans actually too incompetent to cut taxes? Republicans embrace tax hikes targeting Democratic states. How Democrats can get Trump to enact a carbon tax. Eduardo Porter on the tax reform America needs (and probably won’t get). Trump’s outrageous tax hoax: With tax reform next up on the agenda, how much will the president try to cut his own taxes, and why did he lie to Americans about his returns?

The Obama-era deficit scolds want big tax cuts now. Trump’s tax cuts delight Wall Street as debt worries fade. Republicans learn to love debt: Their concern about balancing budgets was really all about politics.