Over at the Washington Post, Ezra Klein takes issue with me and Dave Freddoso for our criticisms of President Obama’s “Buffett Rule” surtax, but I think Ezra misses our point.

Before getting to that, I’ll start with an area of partial agreement with Ezra. I think it’s a fair criticism of Rep. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney that the tax reform in their budget plans does not specify the loopholes that they plan to close to offset their planned rate reductions. I’ve taken issue with this and have urged Republicans to be more open about what type of favored deductions they’d get rid of, which have become cows as sacred as entitlements. This is something that Jon Huntsman deserves credit for doing in his presidential campaign — he vowed to eliminate every deduction, even popular ones on employer-based health insurance, mortgage interest and charitable giving.