Perry Campaign Press Release - Praise for Rick Perry's Cut, Balance & Grow Plan

"Rick Perry announced his tax plan today, which I'll go on record as saying I, El Rushbo, think is great. It's fabulous. I like it. ... This is why a lot of people are going to like it. It is a return to fiscal sanity."

Rush Limbaugh on "The Rush Limbaugh Show," 10/25/11

"This program he's come up with is a great program, this tax plan. ... Perry has come up with one hell of a proposal."

Mark Levin on "The Mark Levin Show," 10/25/11

"The good news is that Mr. Perry and most of his competitors are thinking big, with proposals that will reverse the U.S. slide to high-debt, slow-growth stagnation. President Obama wants to portray the economic debate as pro-growth government spenders vs. the austerity of budget cutting. But the real debate is over whether government or the private economy is the main engine of prosperity. The flat tax puts Republicans on the side of private growth and government reform, a potent combination. Perhaps Mr. Perry and his comrades can even coax Mitt Romney to join the party."

Wall Street Journal, 10/26/11

"Strong entitlement reform in #GovernorRickPerry flat tax plan. Plus strong growth incentives from 20% flat rate. #GOP tax competition. Good."

Larry Kudlow, host of CNBC's "The Kudlow Report," via Twitter, 10/25/11

"Twenty percent is a very good place to be. And what Governor Perry does right is he sets up an alternative structure. If you like the present tax system, if you've organized your life around the various deductions and credits, nothing changes for you. If you'd rather move to a lower rate, fewer deductions and credits, that's available as well. It doesn't have the danger that the Fair Tax or the 9-9-9 has, which is you create these additional new taxes that maybe you'll end up with both the income tax and the sales tax and a VAT [value-added tax], which would be France, Greece."

Grover Norquist on CNBC's "Squawk Box," 10/25/11

"Rick Perry's plan for tax reform would be massively pro-growth. A Flat Tax like the one proposed by Perry would unleash years of economic growth if it is passed into law. Furthermore, eliminating the tax on dividends and capital gains would immediately add trillions of dollars in new wealth to the economy, benefiting all Americans. Perry clearly understands that revitalizing the economy should start with a complete overhaul of a tax code that has nearly choked economic growth to death. Conservatives looking for a champion to carry the banner of a pro-growth tax reform will surely rally behind this bold proposal."

Club for Growth President Chris Chocola, 10/25/11

"[Governor Perry] unveiled a very aggressive plan today. For too many years, our tax code in America has punished, not rewarded success. ... By 2015, the cost of tax compliance will cost over $480 billion. Think about that money that's being taken out of our economy. Instead of the American taxpayers wasting all those hours collecting all those receipts, wasting all that money on tax preparers and accountants, why not have a simpler, fairer tax system where everybody pays?"

Governor Bobby Jindal (R-La.) on CNN's "The Situation Room," 10/25/11

"[It's] the best plan standing. ... The governor's plan is a very bold plan by way of comparison with anything else that's out there, and I think it is possible that it could achieve the growth of the American economy and the job creation that would follow that growth."

Dick Armey, former House Majority Leader and chairman of FreedomWorks, on CNN, 10/25/11

"I like the plan a lot. I think it has a lot of very appealing pro-growth aspects to it. I particularly like the 20 percent tax. There have been already complaints that this is too complicated, that the phase-in or the opt-in and opt-out will make things too complicated — I think that's nonsense. You have basically the option for people to choose whether they want to pay higher taxes. Who's going to choose whether to pay higher taxes?"

The Weekly Standard's Steve Hayes on Fox News' "Special Report," 10/25/11

"Overall, the Perry flat tax plan would be a boon to long-term economic growth and increasing the competitiveness of the U.S. in the global economy."

Scott Hodge, Tax Foundation, 10/25/11

"It's very aggressive. The fact that Perry has come out forcefully for a balanced budget amendment as well as an 18 percent of GDP spending cap is a good sign."

Pete Sepp, executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union, via Bloomberg, 10/26/11

"[T]he 20-percent marginal tax rate will be much more conducive to entrepreneurship and hard work, giving people more incentive to create jobs and wealth.

"Since all economic theories ... agree that capital formation is key for long-run growth and higher living standards, addressing the tax bias against saving and investment is one of the best features of Perry's plan.

"If implemented, [Perry's] plan would dramatically boost economic performance and improve competitiveness. ...

"[I]t will be a radical improvement compared to the current tax system ..."

Daniel J. Mitchell, Cato Institute, in Forbes, 10/25/11

"Here's the thing that gets my attention: Governor Perry has some pretty serious entitlement-reform measures in here: Raising the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare benefits, changing the indexing formula to CPI rather than wages, giving younger workers at least a partial opt-out into private accounts, block-granting Medicaid, putting Medicare recipients directly in control of their own spending—this would be huge. A Republican president who got nothing else done in a four-year term would be a smashing success in my book if he achieved that kind of entitlement reform. I expect Perry to emphasize taxes, but the entitlement measures are the meat of the Perry proposal, in my view, though there's a lot of good gravy: repealing Dodd-Frank, procedural reform for spending and regulating, repealing section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, expanding the "Galveston model" (another Social Security opt-out) to most government employees, etc."

Kevin Williamson, National Review, 10/25/11

"[T]his plan does look like the kind of game-changer that Republicans can use to keep the focus on the economy in 2012."

Ed Morrissey, Hot Air, 10/25/11

"Governor Perry's 'Cut, Balance and Grow' is a solid economic plan for renewing our economy and providing struggling Americans with a path back to economic prosperity. It addresses the key failures of President Obama's agenda in Washington, which at every turn seeks to smother us with more government, and destroy private enterprise and initiative."

Jim Martin, 60 Plus Association chairman, 10/25/11

"My take on the plan: it's excellent. It addresses the key political weaknesses of a mandatory flat tax, while still moving us meaningfully in that direction. While it maintains certain popular deductions, it recognizes the importance of a transitional phase between our current system and a flat tax. And Perry appears to be off to a promising start on Medicare reform."

Avik Roy, Manhattan Institute, in Forbes, 10/25/11

"Perry is correct in noting that the current complexity of the tax code adds tremendous inefficiency to the current system. A flat tax with limited exemptions and deductions would reduce a lot of the distortions that exist along the income scale. For instance, taxing higher income at a higher rate creates disincentives for work and saving, and these would be minimized under a flat tax. Also, it would reduce compliance costs."

Aparna Mathur, American Enterprise Institute, 10/25/11

"As far as tax politics go, a new Washington Post -ABC News poll shows a straight ahead 'flat tax' a clear winner over '9-9-9' ..."

"Poll: Conservatives prefer flat tax over '9-9-9,'" Washington Post, 10/25/11