Taking the Tax Policy Debate Outside the Box

Naming principles any tax policy must satisfy.

Of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
—Song of Solomon

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Christian Weller from the Center for American Progress says U.S. corporate tax revenue relative to GDP is the fourth lowest among OECD nations. He also points out how, presently, "corporations are making out like bandits."




The debate around tax policy need center on only one thing: how principles put forward in the U.S. Constitution's Preamble might be best satisfied. Policy objectives need begin there and end there, too. Surely, the United States did not become a world-class power despite an onerous, progressive tax system. We got here because a progressive tax system encouraged capital to work in manners agreed desirable. Just because agreement has brought tax policy away from the nation's defining principles does not imply the progressive tax system need be swept aside. Rather, there simply is need for its re-centering.

—Tom Chechatka