OPINION:
There are three problems with the Rand Paul “Fair and Flat” plan (“’Fair and Flat’ cuts taxes for all for all,” Web, June 22). First, the 14.5 percent implies a precision of thought that is not borne out in the plan. Second, the plan is a 14.5-percent tariff on foreign goods as well as a 14.5-percent tax on domestic income. History teaches us that tariffs are reciprocated with a response that is not always flat, to the detriment of all consumers and all workers — in all countries. Third, the job and revenue benefits of the 14.5-percent tax and tariff are projected 10 years into an uncertain future. The 14.5-percent tariff makes job benefits in 10 years unpredictable. For fairness, revenues for the 14.5-percent tax should be compared with current tax-code revenues for the most recent, fully settled past year.
Sen. Paul may be a great grandstander, but we don’t need another grandstanding senator in the White House.
GEORGE F. STEEG
Potomac Falls, Va.
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