FLAT TAX FIRST

Let me second Bruce Bartlett’s argument for avoiding two huge reforms at the same time. If the flat tax is pitched in as populist a manner as possible, if the poor are exempted as much as possible, then it could revitalize conservatism as a low-tax and fair-tax movement. It could do for Bush Republicans what welfare reform did for Clinton Democrats. Emphasize the way in which it gets rid of countless bureaucrats and disempowers countless lobbyists. Get McCain on board.