Tax Reform

Paul Ryan and Stephen Bannon Join Forces to Cut Taxes for the Rich

Once bitter rivals, the two men have apparently found some common ground.
Image may contain Paul Ryan Stephen K. Bannon Human Person and Face
Left, by Chip Somodevilla, right, by Win McNamee, both from Getty Images.

It seems that just yesterday, Stephen Bannon was directing Breitbart News to “destroy Paul Ryan’s political career” for betraying conservatism as a member of Washington’s detested establishment class, and that Ryan was distancing himself from Donald Trump to preserve that same political career once Hillary Clinton became president. Then, fate intervened. Trump was unexpectedly elected president, forcing Bannon—now Trump’s chief strategist—and Ryan to set aside their differences and collaborate on an agenda capable of passing Congress.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the two have reportedly found common purpose on slashing the top marginal tax rate, which they both seem to agree is far too high.

It was a kinship that no one saw coming, as The Hill dutifully reports. It was only several months ago that Bannon reportedly declared “Paul Ryan is the enemy” on a conference call with staff for Breitbart, the alt-right news organ, which soon began publishing a string of hit pieces on the Wisconsin congressman, ridiculing his decision to send his children to private school and backing his Republican primary opponent. Now, however, Bannon and Ryan have struck up an unlikely friendship, G.O.P. aides say, bonding over Italian dinners, “modeling and forecasting,” and a shared love of spreadsheets. “Their shared brain power and shared resolve are a large part of why significant tax reform will be done sooner rather than later in a Trump administration,” Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway crowed. “There is collaboration—no confrontation—and a shared purposefulness where differences once existed.”

Bannon and Ryan’s relationship makes for an odd 21st-century spin on the trite Reagan–Tip O’Neill dynamic. Ryan has already proven more accommodating than O’Neill, and Bannon far more radical than Reagan. Still there is something familiar, and reassuring, in their politically expedient pact. Ryan may see himself as the heir to Jack Kemp, and Bannon may see himself as the second coming of Andrew Jackson, but both ultimately agree the nation would be better served if the rich were unencumbered by having to contribute so much of their income to the common good. They might not see eye to eye on entitlement reform, import tariffs, or Trump’s proposed trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, but tax reform, as always, comes first.