Ted Cruz has long been a proponent of sweeping tax reform. In fact, in 2011 he published a 12-point economic plan that originally appeared in The National Review. Among the highlights of the plan were repealing Obamacare, revoking the offshore drilling moratorium, repealing Dodd-Frank and passage of a strong balanced-budget amendment. Imagine that. A balanced budget? Those words are near blasphemy to the ears of liberals. Then again, calling it blasphemy would imply that they had some sort of God other than Obama. Sorry Mr. Obama, you are not a god.
Ted Cruz most recently has been taking to twitter to push the other part of his plan which deals with taxes. He is for abolishing the IRS and moving to a fairer and flatter tax. On Wednesday Cruz first tweeted:
We need to abolish #IRS & make the tax code fairer and flatter. Taxes should fit on a postcard. RT if you agree!
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 15, 2013
On Thursday Cruz called Obama out directly in another tweet:
Mr. President, if your #1 priority is fixing the problem, let's abolish the #IRS and ensure it NEVER happens again!
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 16, 2013
Ted also put out a video on April 15th of this year in which he reinforced his ideas of a fairer and flatter tax code. In this video he also mentions Americans sending in their taxes on a post card. Senator Cruz, you are speaking my language:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/mk1cKr4Y570[/youtube]
Though Senator Cruz has not gone into specifics in “140 characters or less,” we can gain a general idea from the article he wrote for The National Review, which now resides in the archives of the TedCruz.org website. Two of his twelve points relate specifically to the tax code. Here is an excerpt from that article:
7) Slash Corporate Tax Rates. Right now, U.S. corporations face the highest tax rate in the developed world, and they face double taxation if they invest their profits in America. As a result, American companies are today keeping over $2 trillion overseas. With over 25 million Americans out of a job, a tax policy that punishes new U.S. investments and factories is utterly nonsensical. We should cut corporate tax rates—to 15% immediately—to spur new investment and create new jobs in America.
8) Champion Tax Reform. The tax code is too complicated, the IRS too powerful, and lawyers and accountants too expensive. We should dramatically simplify the tax code and move as close as possible to a flat tax or to the Fair Tax.
Cruz also signed the “Contract from America.”
The Contract from America, clause 4. Enact Fundamental Tax Reform:
Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the internal revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words–the length of the original Constitution.
The Contract from America, clause 10. Stop the Tax Hikes:
Permanently repeal all tax hikes, including those to the income, capital gains, and death taxes, currently scheduled to begin in 2011.
Ted Cruz additionally signed the “Taxpayers Protection Pledge”:
I pledge to the taxpayers of my district and to the American people that I will: ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.
Ted Cruz has been consistent on this issue. He isn’t jumping on the bandwagon because of the IRS scandal. He was talking about these things long before this controversy came to the public eye.
Maybe now, since these things have come to light, people might start to listen to people like Senator Ted Cruz.
One thing is for certain. Getting a fair shake with the IRS should not depend on how you vote politically.
