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Donald Trump is not only President-elect, but he is also the hands-down winner of Tax Vox鈥檚 Lump of Coal Award for the worst tax policy ideas of 2016. Presidential election years are always a bonanza of bad ideas. And, sadly, this one was no exception. Still, our job is to pick the Terrible Ten. Here they are, starting with Number 10.

10. The Tax That Must Not Be Named. Several influential Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and presidential hopefuls Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Jeb Bush all proposed聽聽this year. These represent serious tax reform. But they all are versions of a Value-Added Tax and, in certain precincts of the GOP, VATs are verboten. So backers such as Cruz and Ryan loudly insisted their VATs are not what they obviously are. By doing so, they dismally failed the proverbial duck test.

9. Impeaching IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. The House Freedom Caucus聽聽for his alleged role in an overblown scandal that occurred long before he became commissioner. Fortunately, Congress buried the idea for 2016, and lawmakers are likely to be much too busy in 2017 to revive the effort.聽

8. The Alzheimer鈥檚 Boondoggle. Two congressmen got the bright idea that profits from the sale of Alzheimer鈥檚 drugs should be聽. Alzheimer鈥檚 is a terrible disease, but so are stroke, cancer, and heart failure. So why should the government subsidize the sale of one drug and not another?聽

7. Donald Trump鈥檚 refusal to disclose his tax returns.聽A president鈥檚 policies matter more than his personal finances, but still鈥�. Candidates have been releasing their returns for four decades, and it is聽聽at a time when the president-elect has complex business relationships that raise conflict of interest issues.

6. The National Football League. In the tax equivalent of a personal foul,聽聽that that every state and city hosting the Super Bowl聽聽tickets, parking, and entry to related events from sales taxes. It is actually worse than that. In 2014, New Jersey imposed sales taxes on tickets to the big game and then rebated $7.5 million--not to the fans who paid the tax--but to the league. Presumably because the NFL, which generated $12 billion in revenue last year, needs the money.聽

5. Washington State environmentalists. A carbon tax ought to be the dream of any environmentalist. Yet when one got on the Washington ballot this November, many self-described enviros successfully聽聽Why? Largely because liberal groups couldn鈥檛 agree on what to do with the money. Now, they have neither the tax disincentives to using carbon nor the revenue. Good job.

4. Olympic Medal Dross. After years of trying, Congress聽聽on the value of their swag and cash bonuses. The exemption is a windfall for professional athletes but does little or nothing for struggling amateurs. At the last minute, lawmakers did limit the tax break to athletes with income of $1 million or less. But just because it could have been worse doesn鈥檛 keep this one off the list.

3. Hillary Clinton鈥檚 proposed tax increases on the rich. It was no surprise聽that Clinton wanted high-income households to pay higher taxes. The problem聽was her penchant for聽. She proposed a 聽four percent surtax. And a 30 percent minimum tax. And a cap on the value of deductions. And a complex schedule of capital gains taxes based on how long investors held an assets. All on top of the existing Alternative Minimum Tax. She could have soaked the rich much more simply with a Bernie Sanders-like surtax.

2. Donald Trump鈥檚 15 percent business tax.聽Trump would聽聽and wage earners at a top rate of 33 percent. TPC figures that even with anti-gaming rules this disparity would add more than $2 trillion to the debt over the next decade.

1. The Winner: Trump鈥檚 tax cut. Let鈥檚 get this straight: The economy is running at nearly full employment, wages are rising, the stock market is at record levels, and interest rates have gone up by聽聽just since election day鈥攁nd the president-elect is pushing a Keynesian stimulus that would聽聽over the next decade. And, yes, that includes the macroeconomic effects of the tax cuts. The Trump people insist his plan will be revenue-neutral. But that is not possible unless it is substantially rewritten.

The Lump of Coal Award can鈥檛 wait to see what happens in 2017. 聽 聽 聽 聽

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