Statement by Peter G. Peterson Foundation on Baucus-Hatch Tax Reform Principles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK — The Peter G. Peterson Foundation today praised Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, who announced their intention to develop a tax reform bill that would simplify the code, broaden the base and lower rates by eliminating special tax preferences and loopholes. The Senators wrote that they will take a "blank slate" approach, which will assume that all special provisions are eliminated unless a case can be made for inclusion.

Foundation Chairman Peter G. Peterson said, "I applaud and thank Senators Baucus and Hatch for their leadership. The current tax code is overgrown with loopholes, deductions, subsidies, credits and other market-distorting special interest provisions that make the system more complex and virtually incomprehensible to ordinary taxpayers. This 'blank slate' approach will force a hard look at special interest tax preferences, which distort the tax code and flow disproportionately to the more affluent. Broadening the tax base by trimming the tax code's many deductions and exclusions would improve, not impair, economic efficiency. Reform is long overdue and will allow us to reduce our nation's long-term debt while making the code more simple and fair."

"Senators Baucus and Hatch are right — America’s tax code is broken," said Foundation President and COO Michael A. Peterson. "And while simplifying the code, we can also improve the fiscal outlook and lower marginal rates for everyone. I'm hopeful that a serious conversation about tax reform will be a catalyst for broader progress on a comprehensive fiscal plan that stabilizes the national debt for the long term."

About the Peter G. Peterson Foundation
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established by Pete Peterson — businessman, philanthropist and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce. The Foundation is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the nature and urgency of key long-term fiscal challenges threatening America's future and to accelerating action on them. To address these challenges successfully, we work to bring Americans together to find and implement sensible, long-term solutions that transcend age, party lines and ideological divides in order to achieve real results. To learn more, please visit www.pgpf.org.