Cut the Hillary Chipotle chatter. How would 2016 hopefuls run US?
Enough already with Hillary Clinton鈥檚 Chipotle stop. Sure, it was a fun story at first, and the security cam photo of the former Secretary of State with a burrito bowl was pretty great. But let鈥檚 not get carried away with third-day hot takes about the significance of salsa choice. Sometimes lunch is a meal, not a bid for middle-class votes.
Let鈥檚 鈥� gasp! 鈥� look at proposed policies instead. Yes, they鈥檙e out there, and they鈥檙e better indicators of a candidate鈥檚 possible performance in office than is consumption of saturated fats. True, details can be lacking at this point in the campaign, which is to say, early. But here are three whose very mention says a lot about the White House hopefuls doing the mentioning.
Chris Christie is all in on Social Security. In a word, the Social Security reform proposal released by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday is 鈥渂old.鈥� It鈥檚 also possibly damaging to his not-yet-official candidacy. For him much depends on whether the deficit remains a big issue with Republican primary voters.
Governor Christie says he wants to cut spending on big federal entitlements by $1 trillion during the next decade, putting them back on a fiscally-sound basis. He proposes reducing Social Security benefits for retirees who have more than $80,000 a year in non-Social Security income, and eliminating them for those who earn more than $200,000 outside of federal benefits. Also, he鈥檇 raise the retirement age to 69, and the early retirement age to 64.
The first part of that may be relatively popular with the many voters. Why would relatively wealthy retirees need Uncle Sam鈥檚 cash? Not many people would be directly affected 鈥� limiting the potential angry phone calls to Christie HQ.
It鈥檚 the second part that could be a problem. Raising the retirement age affects ... pretty much all of America. (We鈥檒l note here that Christie says no one now close to retirement would be affected by his proposals.) In effect, it鈥檚 an across-the-board benefit cut, and a big one.
As , maybe Christie is making a play for serious Republicans. Maybe he鈥檚 just trying to get noticed. But polls show that Democrats and Republicans alike reject a retirement age increase.
鈥淐hristie鈥檚 plan may very well set him apart from his fellow Republicans. But it鈥檚 likely to set him apart from Republican voters as well,鈥� writes Mr. Enten.
Clinton condemns super PAC monster. Reducing the influence of big money in politics is a cherished goal of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. In her swing through Iowa this week Mrs. Clinton embraced this goal, big-time 鈥� perhaps as part of her attempt to brand herself as a semi-populist working-class champion.
Clinton took particular aim at the super political action committees and other shadowy fundraising committees that can now raise huge amounts of cash from individual donors, virtually untraced, due largely to the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in the Citizens United case.
The United States needs to 鈥済et unaccountable money out of [politics] once and for all, even if that takes a constitutional amendment,鈥� said Clinton.
OK, how? This is a pretty complicated area of law. Does Clinton have a specific proposal?
鈥淲e do have a plan. We have a plan for my plan ... I鈥檓 going to be rolling out a lot of my policies,鈥� . 鈥淪tay tuned.鈥�
What Clinton isn鈥檛 saying there is that it鈥檚 hard to make a real proposal here that matches her rhetoric. There are probably things presidents can do around the edges, in terms of disclosure laws and so forth 鈥� if they can get Congress to go along. Which in this case Clinton probably couldn鈥檛.
But the key words here are 鈥渃onstitutional amendment.鈥� Supreme Court rulings are the huge obstacles in the way of any substantial campaign finance reform. Presidents can鈥檛 budge those 鈥� and getting a constitutional amendment passed by the requisite three-quarters of the states is probably impossible in today鈥檚 polarized political age.
That鈥檚 a good rule of thumb, in fact. Any political proposal that depends on passage of a constitutional amendment is not feasible. (Yes, Marco Rubio 鈥� this means you and your proposed constitutional amendment to balance the budget, too.)
Ted Cruz wants taxes flat as a Texas plain. Finally, there鈥檚 Texas Sen. Ted Cruz鈥檚 nascent tax plan. It involves something that at least one GOP presidential candidate promotes every four years 鈥� a flat tax.
It鈥檚 not so much a serious policy proposal as it is a signifier, an attempt by said candidate (Steve Forbes, Herman Cain, etc.) to distinguish themselves from the rest of the Republican field as the true proponent of low, simple rates.
Let鈥檚 explain. Senator Cruz, in his candidacy declaration speech at Liberty University, imagined a world without the Internal Revenue Service. He imagined 鈥渁 simple flat tax that allows every American to fill out his or her taxes on a postcard.鈥�
But the words 鈥渟imple鈥� and 鈥渇lat tax鈥� don鈥檛 naturally go together. Will there be deductions? That鈥檚 what makes tax un-simple for Americans who itemize, after all. Cruz has hinted that he鈥檒l allow some kind of deduction for charitable contributions, and a mortgage exclusion. But if you allow those deductions, why not others?聽 There are hundreds of affected practices and industries here, and they all hire lobbyists. It could be a legislative mess.
The real stumbling block, though, is the rate. Given the amount of taxes paid by the wealthy at the top of today鈥檚 rate charts, it is difficult to flatten overall rates without increasing the tax burden on the lower and middle classes.
And that鈥檚 a problem when you鈥檙e trying to get elected president in the first place.
鈥淎 flat tax only further turns the 99 percent against the wealthy,鈥� .
