On November 21, The Heartland Institute, publisher of Budget & Tax News, released its “Action Plan for President Trump,” consisting of 34 policy recommendations to the new administration based on the research and advice of the think tank’s network of senior staff, senior fellows, and policy advisors.
Under the headline “Budgets and Taxes,” the institute urged the president-elect to “adopt the plan set forth in Power to the People by Peter J. Ferrara, a senior fellow with The Heartland Institute, to promote economic growth, save Social Security and other entitlement programs from bankruptcy, and provide those most in need with the world’s best health care.”
Four specific recommendations followed:
- Support a plan similar to the Ryan Roadmap or Path to Prosperity plans to balance the budget in 10 years. A balanced budget is absolutely essential if we are to stop digging even deeper the hole created by recent massive deficits.
- Cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent—the highest in the industrialized world—to 15 percent to help bring jobs back to the United States.
- Support the A Better Way personal income tax reform plan (simplification and flattening) to dramatically simplify the tax code and reduce rates for most Americans, fueling more work and wealth creation.
- Support repatriation of profits held abroad by multinational corporations. Allow companies to bring trillions of dollars in profits held overseas back to the United States to invest and create jobs here. Tax those dollars at a low rate (possibly as low as 5.25 percent) instead of the current 35 percent.
Joseph Bast is a Senior Fellow at The Heartland Institute. He cofounded Heartland in 1984, serving as executive director then as president & CEO until January 2018. His research and writing focuses on climate change and energy policy.
