Senator David Perdue (R-GA), the former CEO of Reebok and Dollar General, today sent letters out to his Senate colleagues urging them to REJECT the noxious Border Adjustment Tax. Read his letter here.
Perdue calls the BAT "regressive, hammers consumers and shuts down economic growth". I wonder why he thinks that . . . .
Perdue notes that he believes the BAT is simply a funding mechanism for the rest of the plan. Plain English works for me. I love this. Thank you, Senator Perdue, for speaking sense. You're the first.
As you may realize, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) have also expressed concern over the plan. The fragile Republican majority in the Senate is just 52-48, so a loss of three Senators pretty much cooks Ryan's and Brady's goose.
Boo-hoo.
Now Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) also expressed deep concern about the BAT. It's getting safe for politicians to oppose the law. Awesome, we're getting there! 52-48 doesn't look nearly as secure.
Perdue said he supports three elements of the House plan: (i) simplifying the individual code, (ii) lowering corporate rates, and (iii) making it easier for companies to bring back foreign earnings.
How did a logical person get into the Senate anyhow? Investigation!!
Another sweet development - rank-and-file Republicans are starting to hear us and break free from House leadership. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, also expressed concern about the BAT. Rep. Darell Issa (R-CA), a former successful businessman, and Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) both indicated serious hesitancy about the BAT. The article notes that Brady is starting to encounter resistance in the House ranks.
Keep the pressure on!!!
And in related news, Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) continued to dig a deep hole for him to fall into, appearing at a Heritage Foundation event today.
The shame of it is that I have respected Roskam for a long time, he's a neighbor in Northern Illinois. That said, he's clearly taking orders from above. I don't respect taking positions that are wrong because you are being told to do so. He's a public servant, not a Kevin Brady servant. I have met with him privately, one-on-one. He knows the story so I know from personal experience that his claims are not based on ignorance. Draw your own conclusions.
He reasons that no one is defending the current tax code. Ergo any plan they offer is an improvement.
Any logicians reading my blog? Comments?
He predicts that the Blueprint will soon be acknowledged to be the "best way to go". He repeats the lie that border adjustment in other countries is somehow a "disadvantage" to us and must remedied. I went over these numbers with him, so he knows he's lying. This is elemental math. He's taking orders from Brady and Ryan.
He goes on to say that the BAT does not violate the WTO rules because VAT comes off at the border. That was the case in 1947 when the USA signed GATT, and his argument is specious. And he knows it.
He said "we don't impose, we propose a more excellent way.". Because no one likes the old tax regime, the new one must be good. Right??? He repeated the pablum about transition periods solving the problems of businesses. Recognize the signs of denial? Roskam wants input that reinforces his plan. He's working on commission here. Used car sales.
He closed by answering "easy questions that make [him] look good." IMHO, he did not get what he wanted.
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