host: before we leave, bruce bartlett appeared at the houston the credit reform -- house reform -- he appeared on this network 23 different times if you search our c-span video library. the 30th anniversary of the video library of course. you can see all of his appearances. caller: you might want to look op-ed inett's recent usa today. i am curious. we are talking about the extensive appearances. was that regarding norquist? host: bartlett has been on the network 23 times. answer this for me. norquest is on your show regularly as well. always shows up when there is a tax brouhaha going on. does he get on there by calling you guys saying i would like to come on oryou guys call and say so-called tax expert, he is a tax lobbyist, not a tax expert. question,nswer your grover norquest, someone that a lot of policymakers talk to, who is very much in their policy realm. if they are talking to him we want to hear what those conversations are. we booked him for this program in the wake of this tax release. we wanted to have him on to talk about it during his appearance, we talked about maya mc

we are all honored to welcome bruce bartlett, who helped draft the 1981 tax cut. thank you, bruce. and the executive director and chief economist for equitable growth. hanlin, on the senate -- on

wrote reagan's tax plan to bruce bartlett yeah ok did you read his piece in today's washington post did not see that today he came around he said i wrote the reagan myth he said it's a tax myth there's absolutely no evidence for it you know i was there at its inception it has failed he points he pointed out how you know the reagan tax cuts actually led to three economic failures in the eighty's as a result of well you know exploded the debt he said in fact he said the only reason that the economy got better during reagan is because he spent a trillion dollars in infrastructure and military it was a huge keynesian stimulus every projection where there was a limby or sebille indicated that if he made these tax changes we would bring in x. amount of revenue and what we did instead was bring in about a third more it is true that we had a expanding deficit but it is also true that during that same period of time we spent dramatically more of the all the other point the report with makes and i think it's a really important one is i mean iraq now and i'm guessing you would agree with me both o

don't take it from me but take it from bruce bartlett and way back in the day who says it isn't so. will say to you, we care about the deficit and even though it's $2 g to be $1 trillion, trillion in the deficit, it will make up in the deficit, it never has. i often what happened to the eficit hawks in the republican party. they don't seem to care. pay as you go. you want a tax cut, pay for it. you want an investment, pay for it, so we are not increasing the deficit. this is not a tax reform. it's a tax give-away. same old, same old. so, again, we want to fight the system for the wealthy and well-connected and against middle-income families that are he backbone democracy. they we are advocating creating jobs and lowering the costs, whether it is prescription drugs or whatever costs, cost of living for aim can families and giving them the tools they need in the 21st century. today one of our democratic policy committee co-chairs will lead house and senate democrats in unveiling a plan for a better deal. so important to rural america, rural america. high-speed have have broadband. we

, tell us that's just not the case.at tax i'm delighted today is one who's read his book that bruce bartlett who work for president reagan and for congressman jack kemp will help make that case. we've now all seen the w republicans' tax framework. or at least in part. and despite the republicans' claims that their tax plan is all about the middle-class, it is instead a poorly disguised tax cut for the rich. yesterday at the white house during our meeting with ways and means committee members,ee, th the president promised always in the room that under his tax plan the rich will not benefit. that's a direct quote. i scribbled it down on my schedule card. well, it only took one day for speaker ryan and leader mcconnell to break that promise. the republicans lower the top individual rate to 35%, eliminate the estate tax and amt, and create a huge loophole for the wealthy by lowering the pass-through rate to 25%. all of this is likely to award huge tax cuts to the wealthy. in fact, one of our witnesses today, seth hanlon, has estimated that this amounts to a $220,000 per year tax cut for an avera

bruce bartlett, spoke to the gathering about the potential for economic growth under the plan. the meeting lasted an hour and 40 minutes. >> let me thank everyone for coming this afternoon to discuss the important topic of tax reform. for coming this afternoon to discuss the important topic of tax -- tax reform. aree are those who say they putting out plans. we haven't seen anything specific in terms of what has been discussed. the conclusion that staff has come to that despite what has been suggested, this has been unveiled on a piecemeal basis. reiterating the very clear position. support us as democrats programs, comprehensive tax reform. let me highlight a few key principles we believe must be adhered to in tax reform. our number one priority is moving the dial to help the middle class and their families prosper. that means boosting wages and giving middle-class americans the relief they needed to get ahead. reform must place workers first. it should not skew toward the wealthy. the top rated should remain. 39.6. the should focus on raising living standards of middle-class

bruce bartlett wrote the piece and he's one of the architects of ronald reagan tax plan. the media wants this to be dead on arrival. in my minds it feels like it's a strong start. the republicans are much more unified behind healthcare. i think there are limitations to what democrats can push back on. >> anyone who paid attention to the president's and vice president's speech, they are both selling this to the american people in the absolute perfect way it's very reaganesque and it will pass. i think this one is going to get done, if everybody, republicans and democrats want the tax code to be simpler. we all want that. we spend over $200 billion a year just in tax preparation to find out how much money we owe the government. >> i'm a reagan dem kralt we should stop comparing this to reagan-omics. it's not the same. charles rrl supply side from where we are now -- >> it can't work in kansas now and didn't work in 2011 to 2008. >> in obama's last year in office the federal government took in more tax money than ever in the history of our country, yet still ran a massive de

joining us now, bruce bartlett, a former deputy assistant secretary at the treasury and also with us, david k. johnson, founded d.c. report.org. a nonprofit news aings to cover the trump administration. david is former tax reporter for "the new york times." and, bruce, we want to start with you because you were there at the revolution, at the tax revolution that began in republican governance during the reagan administration where there came the notion that the tax reform as done by president reagan and the congress would actually improve things for everyone by achieving some simplification but not losing any revenue to the treasury and in order to do that, of course, you had to clear out the principle -- some of the deductions that were losing revenue. what is your reading of what you see in this republican tax plan today? >> well, first of all, keep in mind that the reagan effort in 1986 was a very serious and long-term effort. they didn't just send out, you know, brief documents of talking points. there was a three-volume treasury department study that was very detailed in its reco

we are all honored to welcome bruce bartlett, who helped draft the 1981 tax cut. thank you, bruce. and the executive director and chief economist for equitable growth. hanlin, on the senate -- on the center for american progress. our members are eager to hear your wisdom. neil: i would like to yield its to the ranking member of the subcommittee on his taxation. >> thank you very much. -- they'vee house, -- theyd this will be learned nothing from the no amendment approach they took in the repeal fiasco, we need the expertise of the panel that has gathered here. president trump says one thing and the republicans in congress do another. -- the biggest tax cut ever, everyone will be happy. the superlatives don't match the specifics of this outline. the future of their build depends upon how quickly the truth catches up with the lie. blueprint isn written in red ink. trillions of dollars. despite repeated claims of no tax cuts for the rich, i took the same note that mr. neil took. this planet does just the opposite. rate.reases the lower tax it eliminates the state tax. it expands the l

and i want to emphasize something bruce bartlett said at the beginning, which is what drives economic growth is labor force and technological change. and if you've got people dropping out of the labor force because they can't afford care, that is a drag on our economy. it has now been well-documented that the fact that the united states stands alone in not providing working families with these kinds of supports is pulling down our economic growth. and so if you wanted to actually boost growth through the tax code, doing a lot more to support working families to afford child care would be a great way to go. but it doesn't look like this is it. >> thank you. i appreciate that answer. i just want to touch on something that you said. i don't want to use up more time. but my fear with this tax reform plan concocted by the republicans is that they want to laud and pat themselves on the back for what they're doing for middle class families or working families, so they want to be able to say here's what you get. you get a shiny dime. isn't that wonderful. while they're allowing multinational