Dear Mr. Burgan, Thank you for contacting me about reforming our tax code. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue. Our current tax code needs a comprehensive review. It is too complex and has been amended so many times that it no longer functions well. The federal government actually spends more on tax expenditures, or tax breaks, than it collects in personal income taxes each year. We need to examine the goals and outcomes of each credit, deduction, and exemption in our tax code and scale back or eliminate those that have outlived their usefulness. Comprehensive reform would promote economic growth by eliminating many of the distortions in the tax code that reward inefficient behavior or pick winners and losers in our economy. We also need to recognize some basic facts: domestic discretionary spending in 2012 accounted for 17 percent of total federal spending, but is projected to fall to less than 14 percent of total federal spending by 2017. Historically, the only time that our country has had a balanced budget is when both spending and revenue is around 20 percent of GDP. We need to recognize that while federal spending as a percentage of our gross domestic product (GDP) is above its 40-year average, the amount of revenue that the federal government takes in is well below the 40-year average. To successfully address our debt and deficit challenges, we need a plan that cuts our debt by at least $4?trillion. At the end of March, I voted for, and the Senate passed, a budget that included a responsible framework to address our fiscal challenges that includes a balanced mix of reasonable spending cuts and new revenue by closing loopholes and ending wasteful spending in the tax code. It builds on the $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction that we have already achieved, and provides for an additional $1.85 trillion in new deficit reduction, surpassing the target of $4 trillion over 10 years. Importantly, the Senate budget resolution replaces deep, indiscriminate sequester cuts with a balanced approach of smarter cuts and revenue increases to grow the economy and responsibly reduce the deficit. It also recognizes that we need to continue to make smart investments to support an economic growth agenda. As we continue the debate over simplifying our tax system and addressing our debt and deficit, I will continue to be an advocate for a plan that increases revenue by eliminating tax expenditures, while lowering tax rates. Changes to our existing tax structure must be considered carefully to ensure that we avoid unforeseen consequences, but we cannot afford to put off indefinitely reforms to our tax code that will help our economic recovery and address our debt and deficit. Again, thank you for contacting me. For further information or to sign up for my newsletter please visit my website at warner.senate.gov. Sincerely, MARK R. WARNER
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 17:41:02 +0000
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