Will “A Better Way” for a Confident America Lead to Tax Reform?
Keywords
legislative vision, political strategy, policy ambiguity
Abstract
Words have meaning. However, some words can have multiple meanings. For instance, the term blueprint has two distinct meanings: one, a detailed plan for a building or a machine that historically was printed with white lines on a blue background; and two, a complete plan or vision that demonstrates broadly how something is to be developed or performed. The definitions, while similar, differ in scope. From a Washington, D.C., perspective, when the term blueprint is used by Congress, it seldom refers to detailed plans, but rather it is almost exclusively used to define a set of principles and ideas that provide direction for future legislation while omitting the underlying details.
It is well-settled that, in a political setting, visioning is far safer than mapping out a detailed strategy. Detailed plans require lines to be drawn in the political sand that can attract political allies on the one hand and alienate political foes on the other. The drafters know this and deserve credit for putting forth fairly provocative concepts in the “Blueprint” that will no doubt create great debate and take a political toll.
Original Publication Citation
"Will "A Better Way" for a Confident America Lead to Tax Reform?", The Tax Adviser, Edition October 2016, Pages 748-751, American Institute of CPAs, Durham, North Carolina, 2016
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Lewis, Troy K., "Will “A Better Way” for a Confident America Lead to Tax Reform?" (2016). Faculty Publications. 8598.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/8598
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2016
Publisher
The Tax Adviser
Language
English
College
Marriott School of Business
Department
Accountancy
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