Did you know that the most important “progressive” reform ideas of the last half-century have not come from the Left? They have come from Republican politicians and right-of-center intellectuals and think tanks. Here is a brief summary.

Tax reform. A common refrain from liberal critics is that Republican tax reform bills inevitably mean tax cuts for the rich. But did you know that the U.S. tax system is the most progressive among all developed countries? More than any other developed country, we tax the wealthy far more than poor and middle-income families. We are even more progressive than the social welfare states of Northern Europe. This fact is not controversial. It is accepted by economists of all political persuasions. Moreover, more than half of all households today pay no income tax at all. That’s because every Republican tax bill — going all the way back to Ronald Reagan — threw more and more people off the income tax rolls.