Barr takes on hot topics at Chamber speech

Aug. 11--Of the many issues discussed Thursday by Congressman Andy Barr, R-Ky., it was his statements on tax reform that drew a challenge from someone in the audience.

Tax reform is a "major item on the agenda" for Republicans in Congress, Barr said during his speech at a luncheon put on by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

Compliance with the current tax code costs individuals in the country $99 billion each year, Barr said.

Compliance for corporations costs even more, he added.

Reform being worked on in Congress, if passed, will allow 90 percent of individual filers to file on a "post card-like" form.

But it was the other reforms that drew the challenge.

Barr said reform would get rid of the Alternative Minimum Tax (ATM) and the estate (or death) tax. It would also double the standard deduction, which is the amount of income an individual is allowed to deduct and not pay taxes on.

The ATM is a tax created to prevent the wealthy from taking so many deductions or using other loopholes to not pay tax. It is a parallel system that runs alongside the regular tax. Those subject to it might have to pay more tax than they calculate using the regular tax system. The federal estate tax is a tax imposed on an estate being passed down to heirs. For 2016, only estates of more than $5.45 million were subject to the tax.

During the question-and-answer session after Barr's speech, an audience member commented that, over the last several years, the richest in the country have done better, while those at the bottom have not done well economically.

"Why would you want to eliminate the ATM and the death tax when those are aimed at people doing extremely well?" the audience member asked. "You want to cut their taxes even more."

Barr responded that the current tax code does not promote economic growth. The best way to improve economic conditions for the poor is to enact a tax code that promotes growth in the economy, he said.

He also said the wealthy are doing great under the Dodd-Frank Act, a law enacted during the Obama administration in 2010 as a response to the financial crisis of 2007-2008. One effect of the law was to increase oversight of some financial institutions.

"We want to get out of those loopholes," Barr said.

When Barr finished speaking, the audience member started to speak again, but Barr cut him off, saying time for the event was up.

If the proposed reform is successful, it will be the first reform of the tax code since 1986.

Barr took on other hot topics as well, including the growing tensions with North Korea and healthcare reform.

North Korea's testing of 17 ballistic missiles since February has led to an "appropriate response from the U.S.," Barr said, adding that it is important that the commander-in-chief remind North Korea of the U.S.'s nuclear capability.

Congress has passed a sanctions package that cracks down on North Korea's financing mechanisms, and that bans about a third of the country's exports, the congressman said.

Barr spent much of his speech Thursday on healthcare, asserting the need to create a "bipartisan bill" to replace Obamacare.

"Cancer doesn't discriminate against Republicans and Democrats," Barr said.

Barr said Obamacare has failed.

"The ACA wasn't a bipartisan bill," he said.

The congressman called the ACA a "huge job killer," which he said he has gleaned from talking with small business owners who say they cannot expand because of the provision that would require them to provide health coverage to their employees.

Barr also asserted that Medicaid is bankrupting the nation. One of the goals of Congressional Republicans is to bring Medicaid back to being available only to those who need it most, Barr said.

"That targeted relief can be the solution to our problem," he said.

Medicaid was expanded in many states, including Kentucky, as part of Obamacare.

The congressman also said those who can work and obtain employer-based health coverage would be better off doing so.

"If you have access to employer-based healthcare, that's going to be better for you and your family," he said.

Republicans in the House have sent several bills to the Senate, Barr said, adding that it's only a matter of time before the ACA is repealed or replaced.

"It's not a matter of if the law will be repealed or changed; it's a matter of when," he said.

Barr then steered his speech toward other House bills. He said one Congressional effort has been a bill that rolls back many regulations put into effect during the Obama administration, which he said will inject $36 billion into the economy.

"The markets are voting for this agenda," he said. "This avalanche of red tape is being reversed."

Congressional Republicans are pushing hard to get through the Financial Choice Act, a bill that scales back or eliminates many of the provisions of the Frank-Dodd Act. The bill passed the House in June.

"Dodd-Frank and other regulations have clogged the plumbing of our economy," Barr said.

He added that Frank-Dodd "doubled the cost of banking."

The bill now lies in the Senate.

Barr also discussed bills that affect the nation's veterans, including the Veterans Choice Accountability Act, which would allow veterans on a waiting list to be seen at a VA healthcare facility to seek care at a private clinic. He also said an inclusion to the National Defense Authorization Act aimed at preventing suicide among veterans was passed. The inclusion requires veterans who are discharged to agree that they will not harm themselves without talking to another veteran first.

Reach Kelly McKinney at 624-6626; follow her on Twitter @kellymckinney18.

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