海角大神

Yesterday, GOP presidential hopeful John Kasich聽told聽The Washington Post聽editorial board that he should be elected because he is the candidate of ideas. 鈥淪ee, I am a fundamental believer in ideas. If you don鈥檛 have ideas, you got nothing. 鈥�

At least when it comes to taxes, GOP rivals Ted Cruz and Donald Trump聽have got far more聽than Kasich.聽 In the contest over specifics, the Ohio governor and former House Budget Committee chairman, is a distant third.聽 And what we do know about his plan suggests that it too would add trillions of dollars to the national debt, despite his claims to being a fiscal conservative.

At the听笔辞蝉迟聽session, columnist Catherine Rampell complained that it was impossible to measure the budgetary effects of his tax proposals because he鈥檚 disclosed so few specifics.

Kasich countered that he鈥檇 put out sufficient detail:

鈥淸The individual income tax rates are] 28, 25, 10 with an earned income tax credit and fewer deductions. Deductions for state and local taxes and charity. That鈥檚 what the plan is. Okay?聽 It鈥檚 not 鈥� I mean, what more do you need?聽 I can tell you what the rates are. I mean, what鈥檚 so difficult about this?聽 That鈥檚 the outline of it. What else do we need?鈥�

I鈥檓 so glad you asked, governor.聽 Besides tax rates, voters also need to know what income would be taxed (the base) and the income levels at which the different rates take effect.聽 If the tax base is close to current taxable income, it鈥檚 a sure bet that Governor Kasich鈥檚 plan would lose trillions of dollars, since he鈥檇 cut the current top rate from 39.6 percent to 28 percent.

Yet Kasich鈥檚聽two-page description of his plan聽leaves a lot unspecified. 聽It says he鈥檇 keep the mortgage interest and charitable deductions. In his meeting with the聽Post, he added the state and local tax deduction to his list of untouchables. He says he鈥檇 otherwise 鈥渟implify鈥� the Tax Code. But what does that mean when he鈥檇 preserve three of the biggest deductions?

He鈥檚 been silent on other big individual tax preferences such as the exclusions for contributions to health insurance and retirement accounts. He鈥檇 cut the top long-term capital gains tax rate from 20 percent to 15 percent. But what about dividends?

What about the Alternative Minimum Tax or the income tax surtaxes that partially finance the Affordable Care Act. What about other complexities in the tax code like the limitation on itemized deductions and the personal exemption phaseout? 聽Would he increase the standard deduction as Cruz and Trump would?聽

After determining the tax base and rates, we also need to know what credits he would allow.聽 Like Cruz, Kasich would increase the Earned Income Tax Credit (albeit by half as much).聽 What, if anything, would he do with other tax credits for children, child care, adoption, energy conservation, and so on?聽

Given what we know so far, there鈥檚 no reason to think that Kasich鈥檚 plan is any more fiscally responsible than his opponents鈥� (notwithstanding his frequent chiding of them on this score).

For instance, not only would he cut rates on ordinary income and capital gains and preserve big tax deductions, he鈥檇 also repeal the estate tax. On the business side, he鈥檇 cut rates, allow businesses to immediately deduct the costs of new investment, double the credit for research and experimentation, and exempt new foreign profits of multinationals from U.S. tax.聽 It鈥檚 worthwhile discussing the advantages and disadvantages of these proposals, but they鈥檇 all reduce tax revenues.

In a campaign filled with name-calling, Kasich has laudably avoided personal attacks. Great! Now he says he wants to be the candidate of ideas. He should start with a detailed tax plan.聽

This article first appeared in TaxVox.