Trump's Tax Reform Plan Is Return of 'Voodoo Economics'

President Trump's tax reform plan unveiled Wednesday heralds the return of the Laffer curve, or as it's more commonly known—thanks to the first President Bush—"voodoo economics." The New York Times reports the Laffer curve was first sketched on a napkin by Arthur Laffer in 1974. The curve says that if you cut taxes enough, you can make up for the financial shortfall through economic growth. And that's exactly what Trump's team is pitching—though it'll mean adding billions upon billions of dollars to the national deficit while waiting on that promised growth. Here's what else you need to know about Trump's tax reform plan:

• While Republican lawmakers were supportive in public, they're grumbling in private, CNN reports. Congressional Republicans are upset Trump's promised tax-reform plan is more of a tax-cut plan. One senior GOP aide says it's "not even close" to tax reform.
• CNBC reports the plan is missing one thing that Wall Street really wanted: a steep reduction—all the way to 10%—for companies that bring earnings back to the US from overseas.
• There are eight reasons Trump's tax reform plan likely won't get through Congress, according to the Washington Post. They include that Republicans may not tolerate a huge deficit increase and that the GOP head of the Senate Finance Committee is openly wondering if it's a "good idea."
• Politico argues the plan released Wednesday was less a step toward actual tax reform and more something for Trump to use to bolster his 100-day presidential resume. It was a single page of "mostly general principles" largely carried over from campaign promises.
• Mother Jones reports Trump's tax reform plan will make the Trump family richer in four different ways, including by cutting the tax rate for "pass-through corporations." The Trump Organization is made up of pass-through corporations, and the plan would cut the tax rate of Trump and his children from 39.6% to 15%.
• But we may never know exactly to what extent Trump stands to benefit from his tax reform plan, according to the Washington Post, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the president still "has no intention" of releasing his tax returns.

(More tax reform stories.)