The optionality of the Perry plan is one of its strongest features
The plan’s central feature, as Perry explained in today’s Wall Street Journal, is an optional flat tax of 20 percent, in which those opting for the flat tax will be able to deduct $12,500 for each household member, along with mortgage interest, charitable and state and local tax exemptions for families earning less than $500,000 a year.
Some conservative policy bloggers are apoplectic about the optional nature of the Perry plan.
But these critics appear to be entirely ignoring the central political flaw of a mandatory flat tax: that a mandatory flat tax necessarily raises taxes on lower- and middle-income earners. The only way to rebut this political criticism is to make the flat tax optional, so that the middle class doesn’t face higher taxes. This is especially important for those who depend on the employer tax exclusion for their health benefits.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/201...health-reform/
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