Orrin Hatch: “Democrats say they want to eliminate tax expenditures. They refer to them as loopholes or spending through the Tax Code.…”

“Democrats say they want to eliminate tax expenditures. They refer to them as loopholes or spending through the Tax Code. This might be a good political argument, but it bears little relationship to the understanding of tax expenditures and tax law or tax policy. Yesterday, I outlined a general definition of tax expenditures. They are most definitely not spending through the Tax Code, as President Obama so creatively put it, and they are most definitely not, by and large, loopholes. Rather, they were intentionally included in the Tax Code by Congress in order to realize certain policy goals. Tax expenditures are an opportunity for families and businesses to keep more of their income. Unfortunately, rather than have a serious conversation about tax expenditures and tax policy, President Obama and his liberal allies are intent on setting new ground for juvenile public discourse. Faced with a $14.3 trillion debt--and going up every day--Social Security and Medicare Programs that are set for bankruptcy--ruining America's seniors--and a legitimate fiscal crisis that poses a clear and present danger to the Nation's security and the security of America's families and businesses, President Obama is again talking about shared sacrifice. Well, I like the term. The only thing is, I would prefer to have shared prosperity because all we are going to get out of this administration is shared sacrifice, which means everybody is going to suffer.…”