Congressional Republicans will pass at least the outline of extensive tax reform legislation by the end of the year, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist said Wednesday, but he warned that delaying its implementation could mirror the disastrous results seen during President Ronald Reagan's first term in office.
"They will get the outline of the tax plan, taking the business tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, getting rid of the death tax, getting rid of the alternative minimum tax, cutting marginal tax rates across the board, doubling the standard deduction," Norquist told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program.
It will pass before the year is over, he continued, partly because the Freedom Caucus and the House has been working with leadership to craft a bill that everybody can be happy with, said Norquist.
"Those are the people who weren't happy with the first effort at healthcare reform and delayed things," Norquist said.
He added that all Senate Republicans have said they are for tax reform, including Sen. Rand Paul, who voted against the budget, but said he is for the tax bill.
Back in his first term, then-President Reagan also achieved a 25 percent cut in marginal tax rates, but the Democratic House of Representatives insisted that it come in three years, with five percent in 1981, another 10 percent in 1982 and other 10 percent in 1983.
"The recovery did not start until Jan. 1, 1983, and it was a great recovery," Norquist said. "Four million jobs [were] created in 1983, 1 million jobs alone created in one month of October. However, the election was in '82. And in 1982, the Republicans lost more than 20 House seats because the economy was so weak."
Had the nation gone to an immediate 25 percent cut across the board, the recovery would have started a year earlier, said Norquist.
"So, fast forward to today, there was some talk, foolish talk, I hope, among some of the people crafting the tax bill that maybe you could delay the reduction of the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 20 percent," Norquist said. "That would be a disaster because it would delay the strong boost that 20 percent down from 35 percent would give the economy."