The Republicans' failure to repeal Obamacare puts pressure on them to win the next big policy battle, on taxes. But the inherent political and economic trade-offs are likely to deter anything resembling a sweeping tax reform effort. The Republicans will likely have to define a “win” as a revenue-losing tax cut.
Distance is a tax reform's best friend. Many proposals look good at an abstract level, only to be done in by the details. As with health care, agreement on the “repeal” part is not sufficient to generate agreement on the “replace” part.
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