The Caucus: Perry to Propose a National Flat Tax

LAS VEGAS – Gov. Rick Perry of Texas said Wednesday that he would propose a flat tax next week as part of a tax overhaul program, signaling a new effort to separate himself from Mitt Romney and the rest of the Republican field.

Mr. Perry signaled his intent in a speech to Republicans on Wednesday morning after Tuesday night’s brawl of a Republican debate. He has in the past suggested support for some form of a flat tax, but has backed off from endorsing one. Mr. Perry recently recruited as an adviser Steve Forbes, who ran for president in 1996 on a pledge of implementing a single flat tax on income, without any deductions.

Mr. Perry did not offer details of how his plan would work. He said he wanted to scrap “the three million words of the current tax code and start with something simple: a flat tax.”

“I want to make the tax code so simple that even Timothy Geithner can file his taxes on time,” the governor said.

Mr. Perry said his tax plan would also advocate a “serious” round of spending cuts and endorse a balanced budget amendment.

His remarks come after one of his opponents for the nomination, Herman Cain, has gained traction with his 9-9-9 plan, which seeks to tax personal and corporate income at 9 percent, while imposing a 9 percent national sales tax.

In his remarks, Mr. Perry picked up where he left off Tuesday night in trying to differentiate himself from Mr. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, telling an audience of Republicans that he was not a candidate “of the establishment.”

“The American people are not going to trim around the edges when it comes to 2012: They are going to turn Washington inside out,” he said. “Let me share with you one thing. I am not the candidate of the establishment. You won’t hear a lot of shape-shifting nuance from me. I am going to give the American people a huge big old helping of unbridled truth — that we can’t continue to spend what we are spending, that we can’t avoid entitlement reform because we are afraid of the third rail of politics.”

Mr. Perry did not mention Mr. Romney’s name in 15 minutes of remarks to the Republican Leadership Conference, but his target was clear. It came the morning after the two men tangled repeatedly during what was the most contentious Republican debate of the year.

Mr. Perry’s appearance also comes as his standing in many polls has fallen after a rough start to his campaign. He suggested that the establishment was writing him off too soon.

“Pundits and the establishment, they may think they choose, or it’s their responsibility, or their right, to choose our next president,” he said. “Primary voters and caucus voters haven’t got that memo yet.”

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