On September 26, 2025, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform led a coalition of 35 conservative organizations—including Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity—in sending a letter to President Trump urging him to let enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expire in December …
Grover NorquistAmericans for Tax ReformClub for GrowthAmericans for ProsperityDavid McIntosh+2 moreinstitutional-captureregulatory-capturetax-policyhealthcarekleptocracy+2 more
In February 2025, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) published its ‘Essential Policy Solutions’ playbook for 2025, doubling down on its decades-long campaign to eliminate state corporate and individual income taxes and replace them with higher sales taxes—a regressive shift …
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)Lisa NelsonArthur LafferState Policy NetworkHeritage Foundation+4 morealectax-policystate-legislationcorporate-corruptionregressive-taxation+6 more
By 2019, research documented the cumulative impact of ALEC’s systematic corporate tax-cutting campaign: the effective state and local tax rate on corporate profits had declined from 5.9% in 1989 to 3.9% in 2019—a 33% reduction representing the successful culmination of three decades of …
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)State LegislaturesCorporate LobbyGood Jobs FirstEconomic Policy Institute+1 morealeccorporate-corruptiontax-policyrace-to-bottomfiscal-crisis+5 more
On December 22, 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) into law, enacting the most sweeping tax reform package in 30 years and permanently slashing the corporate tax rate from 35% to a flat 21%—a 40% reduction representing the largest corporate tax cut in American …
Donald TrumpPaul RyanMitch McConnellKevin BradyOrrin Hatch+5 moretax-policytrump-administrationcorporate-corruptionwealth-transferdeficit-spending+5 more
On June 6, 2017, the Republican-controlled Kansas legislature voted to override Governor Sam Brownback’s veto and repeal the massive tax cuts enacted in May 2012, marking one of the most decisive rejections of supply-side economics in modern American history. The veto override passed with …
Sam BrownbackKansas LegislatureArthur LafferAmerican Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)Kansas Republican Party+1 morekansastax-policysupply-side-economicsalecfiscal-crisis+7 more
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released comprehensive tax reform draft legislation proposing to raise the tax on carried interest from 23.8% to 35%, effectively closing one of the most notorious tax loopholes benefiting private equity and hedge fund managers. Carried …
Dave CampHouse Ways and Means CommitteeCarlyle GroupCerberus Capital ManagementManaged Funds Associationregulatory-capturetax-policylobbyingprivate-equitycongressional-corruption
On January 2, 2013, President Barack Obama signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) into law, resolving the ‘fiscal cliff’ crisis by making permanent 82% of President Bush’s tax cuts—approximately $2.8 trillion of the $3.4 trillion total Bush tax cut package estimated …
Barack ObamaJoe BidenMitch McConnellJohn BoehnerHarry Reid+3 moretax-policyobama-administrationfiscal-cliffbipartisan-complicitywealth-transfer+4 more
On May 22, 2012, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed Senate Bill Substitute HB 2117, implementing what became known as the ‘Kansas experiment’—the most aggressive implementation of ALEC’s corporate tax-cutting agenda ever attempted by a U.S. state. The legislation eliminated state …
Sam BrownbackArthur LafferAmerican Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)Kansas LegislatureKoch Industriesaleccorporate-corruptiontax-policykansassupply-side-economics+5 more
In 2007, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) launched its first annual ‘Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index’ report, co-authored by economist Arthur Laffer, Stephen Moore, and ALEC staff. The report ranked all 50 states based on 15 …
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)Arthur LafferStephen MooreJonathan WilliamsKoch Industriesaleccorporate-corruptiontax-policyrace-to-bottompropaganda+4 more
On May 28, 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) into law, completing the second phase of the Bush tax cuts and fundamentally restructuring taxation to favor investment income over wages. The legislation reduced the long-term capital gains …
George W. BushDick CheneyBill ThomasCharles GrassleyAmericans for Tax Reform+3 moretax-policybush-administrationsupply-side-economicscapital-gainsdividend-taxation+4 more
On June 7, 2001, President George W. Bush signed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) into law, enacting the first wave of the ‘Bush tax cuts’ that would add approximately $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the 2002-2011 decade, excluding interest. The …
George W. BushDick CheneyPaul O'NeillDennis HastertTrent Lott+3 moretax-policybush-administrationsupply-side-economicswealth-transferdeficit-spending+4 more
On October 22, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) into law, implementing the most dramatic restructuring of the federal tax code since World War II. The legislation reduced the number of individual income tax brackets from 16 to just 2, slashing the top marginal …
Ronald ReaganDan RostenkowskiBob PackwoodBill BradleyJack Kemp+2 moretax-policyreagan-administrationsupply-side-economicswealth-transfercorporate-corruption+3 more
On September 3, 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) into law, reversing substantial portions of the Economic Recovery Tax Act he had signed just 13 months earlier. TEFRA raised nearly $100 billion in federal revenues through closure of tax …
Ronald ReaganRobert DoleJack KempBruce BartlettSenate Finance Committeetax-policyreagan-administrationsupply-side-economicsdeficit-spendingfiscal-crisis+3 more
On August 13, 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) into law, enacting one of the largest tax cuts in American history. The Act reduced the highest marginal individual income tax rate from 70% to 50% and the lowest rate from 14% to 11%, implementing an …
Ronald ReaganJack KempWilliam RothDavid StockmanHeritage Foundation+3 moretax-policyreagan-administrationsupply-side-economicscorporate-corruptionwealth-transfer+4 more
On June 6, 1978, California voters approved Proposition 13 with nearly two-thirds support, fundamentally altering the state’s fiscal structure and launching a national tax revolt movement. The initiative, championed by Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann, added Article XIIIA to the California …
Howard JarvisPaul Ganntax-policyausterityneoliberalismprivatization
Arthur Laffer, University of Chicago professor, sketches a curve on a napkin during dinner with Jude Wanniski (Wall Street Journal associate editor), Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney, creating the iconic diagram that will justify massive tax cuts for the wealthy and become the intellectual …
Arthur LafferJude WanniskiDonald RumsfeldDick Cheneysupply-side-economicslaffer-curvetax-policychicago-schooleconomic-ideology
Congress passes the Renegotiation Act on April 28, 1942, establishing a process to recapture “excessive profits” from war contractors. While presented as a check on war profiteering, the act’s weak enforcement mechanisms and industry-friendly implementation allow most excessive …
Congress passes the Excess Profits Tax Act on October 8, 1940, establishing graduated taxes on corporate profits exceeding pre-war averages. While ostensibly designed to prevent war profiteering and ensure shared sacrifice, the legislation contains numerous loopholes secured through corporate …
CongressFranklin D. RooseveltTreasury DepartmentNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of Commercewar-profiteeringtax-policycorporate-influenceregulatory-captureloopholes
President Calvin Coolidge signs the Revenue Act of 1926, the crowning achievement of Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon’s multi-year campaign to restructure federal taxation in favor of the wealthy. The act slashes the top marginal income tax rate from 46 percent to 25 percent on incomes over …
Andrew MellonCalvin CoolidgeU.S. CongressRepublican Partytax-policywealth-concentrationinstitutional-capturemellon-plan
President Calvin Coolidge signs the Revenue Act of 1924, the second installment of Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon’s systematic campaign to slash taxes on the wealthy. The act reduces the maximum income tax rate from 58 percent to 46 percent on incomes over $500,000 (raised from the previous …
Andrew MellonCalvin CoolidgeU.S. CongressRepublican Partytax-policywealth-concentrationinstitutional-capturemellon-plan
Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon secured passage of the first Republican tax reduction following the 1920 landslide, dropping the top marginal rate from 73 to 58 percent while introducing preferential treatment for capital gains at 12.5 percent. The act repealed the excess profits tax imposed during …
Andrew MellonWarren G. HardingRepublican Partytax-policywealth-concentrationinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruption
President Woodrow Wilson signed the Revenue Act of 1913, also known as the Underwood Tariff or Underwood-Simmons Act, slashing average tariff rates from 40 percent to 27 percent and establishing the modern federal income tax for the first time since 1872. Wilson made tariff reduction his first …
President Woodrow WilsonOscar UnderwoodDemocratic Partyprogressive-eratax-policytariff-policyincome-taxcorporate-power