Today’s hearing by the House Ways & Means Committee [2] with organizations improperly targeted by the IRS underscores two important parts of the Republican Plan for Economic Growth & Jobs [3]: simplifying the tax code and lowering health care costs by – in part – repealing ObamaCare.
You see, the IRS “systematically violated the rights of Americans for almost two years,” said Speaker Boehner [4] (all while its leader was visiting the White House repeatedly – 157 times [5]). There is growing evidence that the targeting was ordered from Washington, D.C. And the same agency is the chief enforcer of our mess of a tax code [6] and the president’s train wreck of a health care law [7].
Putting its arrogance of power on full display for the American people, the White House has belittled and even attacked efforts to give taxpayers answers on the IRS scandal. But the matter has serious implications for our economy.
The federal tax code is more than 74,000 pages long when you add up all of its regulations, annotations, and explanations. It’s confusing, a headache for families, and a nightmare for small business owners – and dangerous if you disagree with the president, apparently.
“Our entire tax system” is “rotten at the core, and it must be ripped out so we can start fresh,” said Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) [8] recently. “Only then will the American people get a tax system that treats them fairly and honestly, as they deserve.”
The simpler, flatter tax code envisioned by the GOP jobs plan [9] – without all the loopholes – will be fairer for everyone and make America more competitive.
Then there’s ObamaCare. The health care law is not only driving up costs [10], it “scares the daylights [11]” out of small businesses and makes it harder for them to hire [12]. Plus it “dramatically expand[s] the authority and size” of the IRS, says Michael Gerson [13]. “The largest tax law and social policy change in a generation will be imposed on a skeptical public by a government agency whose credibility is in ruins.”
“As a physician for nearly thirty years, I’ve always believed the power in our health care system should belong to patients and their families,” said Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) [14] in a recent GOP address – “not politicians – and certainly not the taxman.”
The GOP-led House has voted to fully repeal ObamaCare [15]; the president has signed several House-passed bills [16] that repeal or defund parts of it; and GOP leaders declined to nominate individuals to the Independent Payment Advisory Board [17], which will have the ability to deny seniors access to care.