I HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH MEGAN MCARDLE HERE ON THE GOP “WEAPONIZING” TAX REFORM:

It is hard not to notice that this bill is designed to spread benefits among Trump supporters, particularly the Republican donor class, while laying most of the costs on a single group of people: six-figure professionals living in blue states, a group known as the HENRYs (High Earning, Not Rich Yet). One can make a principled justification for levying high taxes on the rich, who can most easily spare the money. One can make a principled justification for taxing everyone equally, share and share alike. But what is the principle by which almost all of the pain of this tax bill should be borne by affluent, but not rich, people who happen to live on the coasts? Other than “we don’t like them.” …

But while cui bono should not be the only consideration, it always is at least one. Republicans are trying to sell this tax package as a fairer reform that will make things better for all Americans. If that is what they are actually trying to do, then they should probably not offer something so obviously shaped as a shiv for Donald Trump’s political enemies. If not out of principle, then out of naked self-interest. However astonishing their current disarray, Democrats are going to be back in power someday. And if Republicans weaponized the tax code in this fashion, Democrats are likely to pick up this crudely crafted weapon and turn it on its creator.

First, I doubt very much that the GOP has started the tax-weaponization process, leaving aside the longstanding weaponization of the IRS by Democrats.

But it’s also the case that the people who are being “targeted” are people who generally support higher taxes and government power. This is a teaching moment:

There’s an old joke about a boy who complains to his mother that his little sister keeps pulling his hair.

“Oh,” responds the mother, “she doesn’t know that it hurts.”

A few minutes later, the mother hears the girl scream and runs into the other room. “She knows now,” the boy explains.

You know?

Meanwhile, Greg Mankiw has some suggestions for improving Trump’s tax plan that I’m mostly okay with, and I think Trump might be too. “Mr. Trump is right that the current system is in desperate need of repair and that sensible reform could simplify our lives, promote economic growth and benefit all Americans. But I fear that what he is offering, while attractive in some ways, is not bold enough to get the job done.” I don’t favor Mankiw’s final proposal, but Trump — and many Trump voters — might.