Taxes May Be Certain, but Tax Reform Is Not

Donald Trump is a man who throws down gauntlets, and he threw down several big ones during his campaign for president -- confronting the status quos on immigration, on healthcare and on taxes, to name a few. He is now pursuing bold policy changes on each. But it could be Trump's action on taxes that matters most to whether the stock market continues to ride high, GDP growth returns to a healthy 3% and, therefore, whether his presidency is judged well in posterity. News about taxes has been relatively slow thus far in Trump's administration. Judicial blowback against his immigration policies and Congressional blowback on healthcare reform have received far more attention than the general tax-plan principles he announced in April. Still, achieving detailed tax reform may prove even more difficult than his other policy struggles once the wheels start turning. -- More...