A tax that could pay for Trump's wish list is already dividing the GOP
By John Wagner and Max Ehrenfreund February 5 at 6:08 PM
It could in theory be a perfect solution for President Trump — a “border adjustment tax” that helps him deliver corporate tax relief or a big infrastructure package, while potentially bolstering U.S. manufacturers and allowing him to claim that his marquee campaign promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border has been paid for. But it might never happen.
Trump first panned the idea as “too complicated.” Then his press secretary floated it late last month as a way to make Mexico pay for the wall. Soon after, the White House started to back away, claiming that the policy shift being pushed by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) is only one of many options under discussion.
The early tensions over the tax plan and the mixed signals being sent by the White House provide a glimpse into what could become a major intraparty rift as Congress considers how to pay for the border wall and enact new tax cuts.
House Republicans are counting on a windfall from a border adjustment tax to fund broader tax relief, but Senate Republicans remain cool to the idea, with some even mocking its potential consequences.
“Simply put, any policy proposal which drives up costs of Corona, tequila, or margaritas is a big-time bad idea,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said in a tweet. “Mucho Sad.”
The White House’s position is, at best, inconsistent.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-tax-that-could-pay-for-trumps-wish-list-is-already-dividing-the-gop/2017/02/05/61edadb8-e95a-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html?utm_term=.fa52a1e2a7ee&wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1
