Principles To Guide Smart Tax Policy

We believe that through bipartisan efforts, legislation will emerge that reflects Republican principles such as national security, fiscal responsibility, and environmental common sense.

• A PRICE ON CARBON

  To be effective, a price on carbon (whether a fee or tax) needs to be direct, upstream, steadily increasing, and calibrated to reduce emissions to levels called for by science, with border adjustments or other mechanisms to reflect differences in carbon prices and policies in other nations.

• A DIVIDEND OR TAX REDUCTION TO CONSUMERS

  The vast majority of revenues are to be returned to consumers, either directly ("dividend") or via tax reductions ("tax shift").

We invite your comment on our principles, and we are always open to adding to or improving them.

A Message from the Board

A price on carbon - with a dividend or tax swap - may be the single most important step we can take to simultaneously drive economic growth, cut taxes on jobs, enhance national security, and reduce climate risk. Whether you are a consumer or a business entrepreneur, an environmentalist or a climate skeptic, it's just smart.

Some Democrats say it's not politically feasible to support a Smart Tax Shift – Republicans will oppose it, they claim. We're here to say: that's not true. Republicans are ready to step to the plate, with smart policies that harness the free market, to promote a low-tax, high-salary, low-pollution economy.

It sounds audacious – so let's do it, and get the job done.

Sincerely,

Congressman Bob Inglis, Vice Chair of RLN
Bill Shireman, RLN Board Member