Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.

We've got an election coming up.

And the truth is the first thing that people think about

in the election is the economy-- jobs, jobs, jobs.

How are you better off than you were four years ago?

That's what people are going to ask.

And what is driving the problems that we have today?

Well, it centers primarily on the United States economy.

And I'm going to have the privilege

of talking to the man who is helping to craft

a new federal tax code.

Well, critics say that our complex tax

code is hurting businesses and costing jobs.

Now Republicans in Congress say they have a plan

to change all of that.

Abigail Robertson brings us that story from Washington.

ABIGAIL ROBERTSON: Our economy may not be growing very strong,

but the length of the American tax code is.

The complicated tax code is difficult to comply with.

And it includes the highest business tax

among major countries.

Experts argue that the government could

solve both problems at once by reforming

the almost 75,000 page federal tax code

and that a newer, streamlined tax system

could help the economy come back and create more jobs.

The current US tax code is written

like it was produced by our economic adversaries who

are trying to undermine our American economy.

It works against America.

We tax what we produce in this country.

We don't tax what we import from other countries--

just exactly the opposite of what all other countries do.

ABIGAIL ROBERTSON: Stephen Moore, an economic advisor

for the Trump campaign, says it's time

to get rid of all the junk in the tax system

and make it simple.

Make it really simple.

Have a postcard tax return.

How much did you make?

Pay a certain percentage of that, maybe an allowance

for how many kids you have and how big your family is.

But, you know, all this stuff that you've got-- all these tax

breaks for investing in, you know, windmills and bull sperm

and all of this other stuff-- let's just get rid of that.

ABIGAIL ROBERTSON: Now congressional Republicans

have developed a tax reform plan they

say will make the tax code simpler

and strengthen the economy.

Moore believes that, with a better tax code,

the economy could grow to 3% to 4%

a year, which is far better than the 1% to 2%

under President Obama.

That would add millions of jobs to the market

and lead to higher paychecks.

Reporting from Washington, Abigail Robertson, CBN News.

Joining us now to talk about our very creative

Republican plan for simplifying the tax code

is Congressman Kevin Brady.

He's chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

Congressman, it's a pleasure to have you with us today.

Thank you for being here.

Good morning, Doctor.

Thanks for having me.

I've heard of the tax plan you folks have put together.

I want to ask you the process right now.

Has it cleared the Ways and Means Committee?

Has it cleared the House?

What's the status of that bill right now?

Yeah, thank you very much.

We just unveiled the blueprint on Friday.

And what we're laying out is a very pro-family,

pro-growth tax code that also busts up the IRS.

And the goal here is to create more jobs here

in the local economy, it is to simplify the code,

to make it so fair and simple it actually

can be filed on a postcard for most Americans.

And then we want to make sure that we bust up

the IRS so that it's actually working for Americans, not

against us.

And if we do that, I think we can

get rid of the second-rate economy

where so many salaries are flat, where

millions of qualified workers can't find full-time jobs.

And America keeps falling behind.

We get weaker, and our foreign competitors get stronger.

We want to do the opposite.

So this is very much a pro-American tax code, as well.

Well, I love what you're doing.

But let's start with business.

Apparently America is the highest taxing.

When they get through paying the federal tax,

they have to pay, you know, state taxes.

And we become the highest taxed country in the world.

What are you doing with business taxes, for starters?

Yeah.

Well, one, we make sure Washington

takes less of what our local businesses earn

so they can invest in the local economy

rather than send their money and grow Washington's economy.

So we propose the lowest business rates

in more than 100 years for businesses-- whether they're

large or small, family owned or corporations-- because we

know that's key to growth.

The other thing is, for the first time,

we stop taxing American businesses here at home.

And then under the current law, we tax them.

When they'd compete and went around the world

and try to bring those profits home to invest

in our local communities, in jobs,

in research and manufacturing-- we're

the only country to tax them.

So we stop doing that for the first time in history.

Then also for the first time in history

we stop taxing what is made in America.

And we tax the imports that are coming in.

So for the first time, our made-in-America products

will be competitive here and around the world.

And we're removing every incentive for a company

to move themselves, their manufacturing, or their jobs

to some other country.

So this is very strongly in support of more jobs

here in our country.

Well, the current tax code, you've got one type of tax

for corporations.

Then there are partnerships and other corporate forms

of business.

Are you going to make them the same?

Is that the idea in this new tax plan?

You know, they're very close.

In fact, we cut taxes for both corporations.

And then the other's what we call

pastors, which could be mom and pops

or partnerships as you said.

And so we cut those rates to the lowest in nearly 100 years,

as well, because we think it's important

that those jobs and those businesses grow as well.

And we do that.

Again, there are a lot of firsts in history in our blueprint.

But in the past, it's been hard to separate

the income of Bill Gates from the income of Bill

the local printer.

And so Bill the local printer's had to pay higher rates.

We end that.

And we lower the rates dramatically

for our local businesses.

And, for the first time in history,

we allow them to write off from their taxes immediately

all that new equipment, the buildings, the new trucks,

that new energy oil well they create,

that new manufacturing plant.

We allow them to immediately-- in an unlimited way--

write off those investments.

That may, Dr. Robinson, be the most pro-growth, pro-jobs part

of this blueprint.

So they won't be expensed over a period of years

and depreciated.

You just immediately write off the investment?

That's a tremendous job creator.

But you know--

Yeah, it really is.

The tax code is just riddled with exceptions.

You know, the lobbyists have been at it for years.

And they have a little cut outs, privileges for this,

that, and the other.

You're doing away with a lot of that stuff, aren't you?

You have to in order to get this thing flat.

Yeah.

We really are.

Since President Reagan reformed the code,

it's just gotten more and more complex.

In fact, on average one new tax law a day

over the last decade-- so what families can keep up with that?

Which small businesses can keep up with that?

That answer is no one.

And so we basically go all in for growth on jobs

and for families.

We go all in for simplicity, in fact.

We've been listening to the American public, who

have told us for years, why can't we

have a code so simple and so fair

that it could fit on a postcard?

And Washington always sort of dismissed

that as that could never happen.

Well, guess what?

It can happen.

And that's what we're proposing-- exactly

that, a tax code so simple it could fit on a postcard.

And we think the American public is going to speak out,

we hope, in support of that simple, fair approach.

Well, there's one thing of the code

that Karl Marx liked, right?

Marxists call it the death tax.

I understand you're taking that away.

Yeah, it is.

I lead the coalition in Washington

and across the country to end the death tax.

So for the first time since it was established in 1916,

we permanently end it.

It's the most immoral tax on the books.

It hits the wrong people at the wrong time

for the wrong reasons.

It's the number one reason family-owned farms

and businesses aren't passed down

to their kids and grandkids.

So we end it, which I think, for a lot of Americans,

is going to be a big sigh of relief.

Well, yeah.

I can hear a shout of praise going forward

from the American people on this tax plan.

But what's going to be the fate when it hits Congress?

It's going to go through the Republican Congress.

Will it pass the Senate?

I mean, that's what you've got to do.

Yeah.

Well, we're starting with the American public.

And the point House Republicans are making

is, this is not our tax code.

This is yours, America.

So if you want more jobs, speak up.

If you want a simple and fair postcard, speak up.

If you no longer want to fear the IRS,

speak up because the only way that we

can make such game-changing reforms

and to really blow through all the

Washington special interests is if Americans speak up.

I'm confident it'll be supported by House Republicans.

And we intend to listen the American public

through the rest of the year as we finish writing this.

We intend, under our speaker Paul Ryan,

to hold a vote to advance this tax reform.

And it would be incredibly helpful

if we have a Republican Senate and Republican in the White

House to sign this bill.

You know, Donald Trump could win running

on a platform like this.

Is he on board yet?

Or has anybody talked to him?

Yeah, not yet.

But we've been talking to his tax advisors who

are very much supportive of exactly

the pro-growth, pro-family type of approach we're taking.

And so I think it'll be terrific if Republicans

and our nominee, Mr. Trump, were reunited behind one major tax

reform.

I think it would send the right signal

and certainly make it harder to divide the party on this.

What would you like our audience to do?

People are watching right now.

And if they're like me, they're say

this is a tremendous tax plan.

How they going to get their voices across?

Speak out.

Dr. Robertson, you're so good at this.

But have them speak out.

Have them call or e-mail or text their local congressman

and senator.

Tell them we want that postcard, we want that pro-family tax

reform.

Act on it now.

I think, again, the only way we can prevail

is if the American public has a say in this tax code

and they use their voice starting this morning.

Well, Congressman, I applaud you on what you're doing

and your colleagues.

I hope this sails through the Congress

and it gets to be a veto-proof majority.

The president would probably veto it-- maybe not.

Maybe he'll sign it.

But we'll see.

Thank you for what you're doing.

Thank you, Doctor.

It's my pleasure.

Thank you.

Congressman Kevin Brady, he represents the Houston area

of Texas, a Republican and a chairman.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: I just want to raise my voice-- hallelujah!

Yeah.

I mean, really the whole American people--

when you hear what he's going to do, it's fantastic.

Oh my word, yes.

Long overdue.

They've carefully looked at it.

These are the people who are supposed to write the tax law.

And it's not the Senate.

It's not the White House.

It's the House Ways and Means Committee,

according to the Constitution.

And you know some of the way that we've gotten to the place

that we are today negatively is we haven't raised

our voice when we need to.

That's right.

So here's an opportunity.

The lobbyists up there have raised their voices

because they're in with the big donors.

And they pay out the cash.

Well, you know, you've got give us this cut out

and this depreciation and this.

But the idea that you can expense

all the new investments you make in a company,

that's incredible.

And corporations, partnerships-- all the other types

of business formations, sole proprietorships,

et cetera-- according to that will

be taxed the same, and the lowest corporate tax in 100

years.

He said 20%.

I mean, it's wonderful.

It'll stimulate the economy dramatically

and create thousands of jobs.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: Everybody gets blessed by that.

Yeah.

I love it.

So OK.