If you can’t beat them, join them.
The New York Times reported that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) is copying one of Donald Trump’s policy pieces and calling for tax increases on the very rich.
Bush unveiled his tax reform policy on Sept. 9, which was closer to Trump’s proposal than anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist.
Bush’s plan would have significant tax increases for many of his donors.
The former Florida governor calls for closing loopholes on carried interest, representing investment gains from private equity and hedge funds – a provision that has been in Trump’s crosshairs for weeks now. He also wants to eliminate companies’ ability to deduct the cost of interest payments, which incentivizes them to borrow.
This would transform almost every industry, especially private equity and real estate, which rely on debt to increase their profits.
Many large companies would feel less inclined to borrow money to pursue stock buyback and dividend programs, the Times reported.
It isn’t all tax increases though, Bush’s plan calls for decreasing both personal and corporate income rates, which may offset the increases for the wealthy.
Corporate taxes would be reduced from 35 percent to 20 percent, and individual taxes would be reduced to three different rates, 28 percent, 25 percent, and 10 percent. Bush is also expanding the earned-income tax credit and eliminating both the death tax and alternative minimum tax.
Bush’s plan should play well with middle-class voters who have turned to Trump or Carson as an option in the Republican primary, but it may alienate the former governor’s donors who could feel like he’s biting the hand that feeds him.
