Politically, it seems to embody the worst of both worlds: It’s enough like Obamacare to infuriate hard-line conservatives,<br />but it weakens key aspects of the law enough to deprive millions of Americans — many of them white working-class voters who backed Donald Trump — of essential health care.<br />The case for the cash flow tax is quite technical; among other things, it would remove the incentives the current<br />tax system creates for corporations to load up on debt and to engage in certain kinds of tax avoidance.<br />Because the Republicans have belatedly discovered what some of us tried to tell them all along: The only way to maintain coverage<br />for the 20 million people who gained insurance thanks to Obamacare is with a plan that, surprise, looks a lot like Obamacare.<br />Then there’s corporate tax reform — an issue where the plan being advanced by<br />Paul Ryan, the House speaker, is actually not too bad, at least in principle.<br />Even some Democratic-leaning economists support a shift to a “destination-based<br />cash flow tax,” which is best thought of as a sales tax plus a payroll subsidy.<br />But that’s not the kind of thing Republicans talk about — if anything, they’re in<br />favor of tax avoidance, hence the Trump proposal to slash funding for the I. R.S.
