The Republican presidential primary is full of spectacles. Just this past weekend, Donald Trump defended the size of his manhood on the Fox News Republican presidential debate. The Republican primary was reduced down to a plus size competition thanks to this week’s candidate of focus Senator Marco Rubio, and yes he won Puerto Rico, which not many even knew had electorate votes. Rubio has a very slim chance of winning the nomination- it’s unclear Rubio will even take his home state Florida. However, we are compelled to cover as many candidates as possible before they officially drop out of the race.
Rubio, in comparison to Trump and Cruz, is running with a moderate political agenda. Both Trump and Cruz’s tax reform plans are expected to create a massive budget deficit, and so will Rubio’s plan. It’s projected to yield less budget deficit, but it is a deficit nonetheless. His reform is 1) pro-growth and 2) pro-family. Here are the details.
Individual Income Tax
- Simplify current tax brackets into three- 15, 25, and 35 percent
- Repeal tax on dividends, capital gains, and interest payment
- Increase child tax credit and education tax incentives
- Repeal individual alternative minimum tax
Business Taxes
- Reduce the corporate income tax rate to 25 percent
- Allow immediate expensing of business expenditures for equipment, structures, inventory, and land
- Implement a 25 percent nonrefundable tax credit to businesses offering 4-12 weeks of paid family leave
Senator Rubio’s tax plan aligns with his political agenda. For instance, the reduced income tax and additional child credit will benefit large families with children. Providing incentives to companies to encourage employees to spend more time at home is another example of his pro-family position.
In summary, Rubio’s tax plan looks a lot like a family movie night out on Friday. No one is really excited, but everyone at least gets an ice cream cone afterwards. The rich benefits from the abolished investment tax while larger tax credits will help out the poorer Americans. The plan also includes Medicare for the moderates and balanced budget plan for conservatives. His promise for social security is an interest to older voters while long-term entitlement reform is for the young voters. However like other candidate’s plans, his reform fundamentally isn’t sustainable as it cuts a large portion of government tax collection and hands out an increased amount of incentives that will inevitably yield large budget deficits.
Written by Gabriel Choi on 03/08/2016
