At the end of last week, a dark horse entered the Republican presidential primaries as former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Mark Everson announced his intentions to run in 2016.
Besides serving as IRS commissioner for four years under then-President George W. Bush, Everson worked for the Reagan administration as deputy commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) where his portfolio included ports and overseeing the Border Patrol. Everson also worked as controller and deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
To get America back on the right track will require shared sacrifice and difficult choices which our politicians won't entertain, Everson said in his announcement. Im going to start a candid, long overdue conversation with the American people about our problems and how to tackle them.
Not surprisingly given his role at the IRS, Everson has made tax reform one of the centerpieces of his campaign.
The tax code should promote growth and help Americans provide for their future, Everson noted. Of particular importance is the need to encourage innovation, manufacturing and agriculture, and to help small and mid-sized businesses thrive and create employment opportunities. It is time to be bold. I favor the Competitive Tax Plan authored by Columbia professor Michael Graetz. Adopting the plan will put in place a destination-based VAT that will apply to goods and services. The plan will remove 150 million Americans from the income tax rolls, freeing them from the hassle of filing an income tax return and dealing with the IRS.
"To retain adequate progressivity in our tax system, income taxes will remain in place for the highest earners, but at lower rates. Providing payroll tax credits to low- and moderate-earners will prevent them from realizing tax increases. The Competitive Tax Plan would also expand refundable child credits. Under the plan, corporate rates will drop, allowing American businesses to prosper in the global economy. I would adjust the Graetz plan to retain and expand the existing research and development tax credit to ensure America maintains its leadership position in innovation. We should also provide meaningful incentives for energy reduction.
One of the worst features of the current system is on-again, off-again tax legislation, Everson added. We need stability in the tax code so that business owners can make rational investment and hiring decisions knowing the rules of the road. Tax provisions should have a minimum duration of 10 years to reduce uncertainty and align with budget-scoring rules. Last years tax extenders exercise was a disgrace, with provisions enacted into law just before Christmas only to expire two weeks later at the end of December.
Besides tax reform, Everson pledged to confront the lawlessness of the big banks, re-establish the draft, add means testing measures for future Social Security recipients and backed immigration reform while opposing President Barack Obamas executive action on immigration.
Everson also pledged to serve only one term if he was elected in 2016.
I will execute the laws as written, not as I might wish them to be., Everson said. I will serve only a single term in office and not allow re-election politics to compromise Oval Office decision-making.
Everson briefly served as president and CEO of the American Red Cross in 2007, but the board of governors demanded his resignation after six months when he became romantically involved with Paige Roberts, the CEO of the Southeast Mississippi Red Cross. Both Everson and Roberts divorced their spouses and are now living along the Gulf Coast in Mississippi raising their child.
The new candidate weighed in on his past in his campaign kickoff.
I have made mistakes, but at 60, I am wiser and humbler than I once was, Everson insisted. Still, I owe no one. I am unafraid to take on the special interests which enrich themselves at your expense. I am a conservative and understand the limits of the powers of the presidency. I will execute the laws as written, not as I might wish them to be. My track record is just that. I will devote my full energies to the country and our national interests.
"My marriage failed. It was entirely my fault," Everson admitted. "I am not proud of the job I did as a husband. And like many Americans, my youngest childs mother and I were not married when he was born. There have been dramatic changes in family structures over the course of my life, andthose who cite the unraveling of the institution of marriage as cause for alarm are right to do so.We dont know where all this is going and, as a society, are truly on uncharted ground. That having been said, I have learned a great deal through my own passage and can confirm that the power oflove overcomes some pretty high hurdles."
Everson was also candid about an abortion incident from his past and how it impacts his pro-life positions.
"I struggle to say when life begins, especially given the ever earlier viability of a fetus brought about by continuing advances in science," Everson noted. "As president I will enforce the law and respect the decisions of the courts.But I oppose the termination of any pregnancy, unless the life of the mother or child is at stake.I know how painful a subject this can be. Many years ago an unborn child of mine was aborted, and I still wonder what that man or woman would be like today.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
