EDITORIAL: Trump administration prepares to unveil its tax reform proposal

On of the more bizarre aspects of Tax Day last week was to watch the sporadic Democratic protests in various pockets of the country. One would think that sullen progressives would instead be partying on such an occasion, celebrating the transfer of $1.5 trillion from the private sector to the federal bureaucracy.

The marches were, in fact, leftist stunts designed to renew attacks on Donald Trump over his refusal to release his tax returns. Mr. Trump could have — and probably should have — put this issue to rest during the campaign, but he chose to dig in. He still won the election. Given his nature, it’s unlikely he will relent any time soon.

And now Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat whom Mr. Trump has called the opposition’s “head clown,” indicates he will take the issue to the next level. Sen. Schumer hinted last week that he may try to scuttle tax reform if the president won’t release his returns.

That threat came just days before Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday announced that the administration would unveil an ambitious plan to overhaul the nation’s tax code “very soon.” The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Mr. Mnuchin has rejected calls for a more modest way forward in favor of “the most significant change to the tax code since Reagan” in 1986.

Some Republicans have argued for splitting tax reform into a number of smaller bills to make it more manageable. In a New York Times op-ed last week, four former Trump economic advisers made such a plea, urging the president to resist trying to “rewrite the entire tax code in one bill.” They proposed that the GOP first address the corporate tax code and provide relief for small businesses, while waiting until 2018 to delve into the “maddeningly complex individual income tax system.”

That approach seemed more agreeable to some Democrats, many of whom acknowledge the need for revamping a U.S. corporate tax system that currently discourages investment. The Journal reported that Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, also called for focusing on business taxes and addressing the issue in “bite-size pieces.”

Whether the president goes all in or opts for a more piecemeal approach, the challenge remains to produce results. Americans overwhelmingly favor simplifying the tax code as a means of spurring economic growth and job creation, but the special-interest politics involved in the issue are deep-rooted and potentially intractable, particularly in this day of hyperpartisanship.

As for Sen. Schumer’s threat, only a fool could buy the fantastical notion that the Democratic resistance crowd in Congress will stand down on tax reform if Mr. Trump makes public his returns. That’s why the president risks nothing by ignoring such noise and instead focusing his attention on attracting the dozen or so vulnerable Senate Democrats to his side in the upcoming tax debate.