The "Un-Tax"

The tax swap that cuts government, cuts pollution, and protects national security.

• UnTax jobs & Growth

  Reduce payroll taxes

• UnFund subsidies

  Get rid of cozy deals for chosen fuels

• InVest in innovation

  Empower consumers with $$ in their pockets through tax cuts or dividends

• InTernalize hidden costs of fuels

  Make fuels account for their national security costs and emissions

Policies

UnSubsidize. When we subsidize huge sectors of the economy, everyone ultimately loses. Subsidized industries fail to adapt. Subsidized companies become bankruptcies-in-waiting. That is why RLN supports the systematic reduction of subsidies to industries across the economy.

UnTax. When we tax things we want, we get less of them. When we subsidize harms, we get more of them. When we tax jobs, for example, we get lower wages and higher unemployment. When we subsidize extremists through our oil dependence, we harm our national security. The "UnTax" is a powerful idea: it cuts taxes on things we want, like payroll, and pays for the cuts by eliminating subsidies on things we don't want, like foreign energy dependence and highly polluting fuels. Instead of just raising revenue to fund government bureaucracy, the UnTax accomplishes three goals at once, in the free market: it promotes national security by reducing the flow of money to extremists and terrorists. It promotes prosperity by cutting taxes on jobs. And it promotes environmental common sense by reducing pollution. It is a genuine policy "triple play."

InVest. Instead of propping up the economy with subsidies and handouts, it's time we reinvigorated the economy, by driving investment in the future of manufacturing and technology. RLN proposes that – as we unsubsidize the economy – we redirect those funds to Research and Development. By channeling resources through our universities and laboratories, government has been highly effective in driving basic R&D, the foundation of innovation. The private sector, in turn, transforms those discoveries into myriad advancements in clean technology, information and telecommunications, advanced manufacturing, and sustainable jobsInstead of propping up the economy with subsidies and handouts, it's time we reinvigorated the economy, by driving investment in the future of manufacturing and technology. RLN proposes that – as we unsubsidize the economy – we redirect those funds to Research and Development. By channeling resources through our universities and laboratories, government has been highly effective in driving basic R&D, the foundation of innovation. The private sector, in turn, transforms those discoveries into myriad advancements in clean technology, information and telecommunications, advanced manufacturing, and sustainable jobs.

A Note on the Climate Controversy

We realize it is now a matter of almost religious faith, on both the right and left, to believe that climate change is either a proven reality, or a proven fiction. According to the enforced ideologies of the day, many expect conservatives to take the position that climate change is pure fiction, foisted on us by big government liberals determined to replace capitalism with socialism. Conversely, liberals are expected to argue that all climate skeptics are conservative ideologues determined to foist their anti-science agenda on the public no matter the environmental or social costs.

The simple truth is that science does not offer the certainty that either of these extremes insist upon. At RLN, some of us have been called skeptics, and some of us have been called believers. But we all agree there is a genuine risk of human-caused climate disruption – and it is neither conservative nor wise to roll the dice on a matter as great as the climate of the planet.

To reasonable-minded conservatives who don't subscribe to litmus tests of our political correctness, the climate issue is not simply a political Trojan Horse by the left. There are aspects of that, certainly, as there are in all legitimate policy questions. But it would be dangerous for the right to simply disregard the conclusions of many in the science community.

That doesn't mean we have to overreact and support cap-and-trade policies that would genuinely damage the economy. In fact, there are many sensible approaches that advance important conservative political objectives while reducing risk. With smart policies that harness the free market, we can cut taxes, advance national security, drive innovation, and create real non-subsidy jobs, at once. This is our approach to the risk of climate change.