Texas Gov. Rick Perry released his economic plan Monday titled “Cut, Balance, and Grow,” which proposes the option of a 20% flat tax in lieu of current income taxes. Perry is expected to formally announce his tax plan while campaigning in South Carolina. The plan embodies many long-held conservative ideals, with its promise of a flat tax rate, personal accounts for Social Security, major spending cuts and a series of other tax cuts.
Perry’s plan seeks to set him apart from Herman Cain, with his touted 9-9-9 plan, and Mitt Romney, who proposed an end to taxes on interest and dividend income for people earning less than $200,000 a year. By embracing many Republican ideals, he hopes to win back tea party conservatives. “It will be an extremely difficult task exacerbated by the current economic crisis and our need for significant tax cuts to spur growth,” Perry wrote. “But that growth is what will get us to balance, if we are willing to make the hard decisions of cutting.”
