U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady: Tax Reform Is "Inevitable"

In an exclusive interview with CNBC’s John Harwood, Kevin Brady talks taxes, taxes, taxes. Brady says tax reform needs to happen and that the American public is ready for change.

JOHN HARWOOD: But what do you make of this populist brushfire that we've got in the Republican Party that says, "Ex-Im Bank, no, that's not helping us export. That's special favors for business. Trade deals? No, that's special deals cut by these businesses to help them at the expense of average workers."

KEVIN BRADY: You know, I think people are so frustrated by the last eight years of this administration, they're striking out frankly at just about everything, just out of frustration.

HARWOOD: Including fellow Republicans.

BRADY: Well, they are. And I think this will pass. Because the truth is, with the right president in the White House actually unifying this country and focusing on what we need to do better, which is to create jobs on Main Street, give people opportunities, you know, I think they have a chance to turn that around.

...

HARWOOD: Dave Camp went through a process, came up with a plan you kind of liked.

BRADY: Yeah. Dave Camp, in my view, made tax reform inevitable, in the sense that he showed you could broaden the base and lower the rates and simplify the code and be competitive around the world and make it more understandable. So...

HARWOOD: Now wait, let me stop you on that. You say, "Made it inevitable." Some people say he showed it was impossible because he laid it out and his own caucus shot it down in about five minutes.

BRADY: Well, it didn't in my view. In fact, I don't think it got the oxygen it deserved at the time. But he should...

HARWOOD: John Boehner said, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah"...

BRADY: Well, he did. But Paul Ryan is all green-light thinking on tax reform.

HARWOOD: OK. Do you agree, by the way, that tax reform can only be done with buy-in from both parties?

BRADY: You know, I think at the end of the day, it will be bipartisan. Maybe not at every step in the process, as we lay this out, but at the end of the day, the major changes in American government almost always require buy-in from both parties.