Tax spending does not, as some pretend, simply allow people to keep more of what they have earned. Nothing is free, including a tax break. Someone has to pay for it. This means that for every dollar the federal government collects, it gives back about 35 cents through loopholes and special tax breaks. This report does not suggest that all of these tax breaks should be revoked.
Tax policy is a rarefied, obscure realm.
Much of tax policy is very complicated, not to mention boring. Yet it is too potent to be ignored. Seemingly trivial provisions or phrases can mean billions of dollars in revenues. Over the years, tax bills have been a playground for powerful special interests. With all these forces conspiring to protect polluters, cutting polluter subsidies out of the tax code will be a daunting challenge indeed.