People oppose the death tax not only because it’s fundamentally unfair; they also don’t want their family to pay it. Very few will ever come close to amassing a large enough estate to worry about it, but fewer realize that. Although the overwhelming majority may end up paying slightly less under the GOP plan, they all fear they’ll end up paying more. This is because Republicans aren’t simply lowering rates, they’re playing games in the hope the Democrats and the media will get on board. That is never, ever going to happen.

The tax code is a complex monster, and taming it would be good. But people don’t care about loopholes; they care only about paying less. Republicans, since they don’t have the will required to scrap the code and replace it with a flat or fair tax, should simply lower rates across the board, no caveats. People understand that.

When you’ve got members of Congress going on TV to tout lowering the corporate tax rate, you’ve lost.