Jeb Bush: My tax proposal would deliver $2,000 to middle-class families

I recently unveiled a dramatic tax reform plan that upends a dysfunctional and complicated tax code that was written by special interests. We would go from seven brackets to three (28%, 25% and 10%). To get to the lower rates — which are essential to sparking economic growth — the plan would eliminate carve outs, loopholes and deductions that primarily benefit the wealthy.

My plan would also reduce the top corporate rate that American businesses pay from 35% to 20%. At 35%, our job providers pay the highest business taxes in the industrialized world. Is it any wonder we have been losing jobs to our foreign competitors? Under these reforms, American businesses would pay five percentage points less than Chinese companies. This would help bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and make American workers more competitive across the board.

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Most important, the plan would put nearly $2,000 back in the pockets of the average middle-class family in America by increasing their after-tax income. This is real money that will make a big difference in the lives of millions of working families. Two thousand dollars is four mortgage payments for the median American household; or eight months of gas; or six months of utilities; or about three months of groceries. Better yet, if a family were to invest the $2,000 they would save annually over a 20-year period and at compounded interest rate of 8%, they would accumulate a nest egg of $108,000 to help better prepare them for a comfortable retirement.

Hillary Clinton's allies on the defeatist left have predictably attacked my plan as benefiting the rich. But when you dig into the details, it provides a significant boost to the middle class. A family of four with $40,000 of income would no longer pay income taxes, and with the added savings, their standard of living would see significant improvement.

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I look forward to having a lively debate with Secretary Clinton about tax policy and how best to boost wages. Clinton is doubling down on the failed economic policies of President Obama that have resulted in the middle class losing nearly $2,000 of income over his time in office. I have a bold plan to provide them with $2,000 of tax relief and to get America’s economy growing at 4% — a rate of expansion that will ensure that the middle class receives a true pay raise for the first time in 15 years.

Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor, is a Republican candidate for president.

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