OPINION

Congress Can Uphold the American Promise with Budget and Tax Reform

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Jobs are changing. Governments at the federal and state level are already looking to prepare American workers for the far-reaching changes the lower and middle class workforce will face during the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution. Our country is undoubtedly facing a period when the world will face dramatic and life-changing technological advances unfolding with a speed unlike anything we have ever seen. 

These changes offer great opportunity for prosperity, but the American worker needs to be set up for future success today. That can only be accomplished by two things: a sound fiscal budget and comprehensive tax reform. 

Without both passing a sound budget and enacting tax reform, our representatives in Washington are tying the American worker and this country to the past. Wage growth will stagnate and job creation will suffer even more unless the full economic potential of this country is unburdened by overspending and overtaxing today… not down the road. 

With the passing of the House budget, the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, we are one step closer to getting our country on track for the future.

This bill eliminates Obama-era overreach that directly resulted in job-losses and slow growth. It eliminates years upon years of bloated government programs and the overfunding of others that have never lived up to their promises. And perhaps most vitally, it prevents the continued funding of Obamacare.

As our leaders look to reframe the American job economy, the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act also begins the conversation of fixing the broken IRS – the perfect lead-in to comprehensive tax reform. This budget upholds the promise Republicans have made to the American people to not increase the tax burden on middle-class Americans and to take serious measures to stop the over-spending of our tax dollars by Washington. 

As President Trump has stated, “Our painful tax system has become a massive barrier to America’s economic comeback.” 

Those who cannot see this burden are living with blinders on or are blissfully unaware of the plight of the middle class. It is safe to say that failure on tax reform will cripple not only an American comeback over the next 10 years but also any possibility of remaining competitive in the global economy in the next 20, 30 and 50 years as rapidly changing technology unfolds and threatens the existing job climate.

It is key that Americans understand that not only will the tax reform plan proposed by the White House help American families prepare for the future, it will enact a tax code that is fair for all. 

Fairness must truly be the most important goal in this new tax system. Certainly, a progressive system is fair, and an uncomplicated tax-tier system will reduce the scope of work needed by the IRS as we work to reign in that government agency.

It’s no secret the current code favors the wealthy with attorneys and accountants to wage secret battles to achieve tax loopholes. It’s no secret that lobbyists have been given the power to dictate the tax code’s impact on the lives of individual Americans for too long. And it’s certainly no secret the average household is overburdened by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.

Whatever liberal narrative develops over the next few weeks in the fight for reform, one thing is abundantly clear: The President is here to champion the middle class. It is why he was elected.

As many American leaders and top minds have said, the United States economy is at a crossroads. Now is the time to safeguard our future, both with a fairer tax code that puts money back in Americans' pockets and a sound budget that does not promise more than we can pay for today.

We may have just achieved the highest median household income on record, but it is time to go further and plan for the future with economy-saving tax reform and a sound budget. 

If given a chance, Americans can create 25 million jobs over the next 10 years, and return to the prosperous, powerful, and inspiring nation the United States once was.