How the Republican Tax Plan Can Help Small Business

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson has caused a bit of a hullabaloo by complaining that small businesses don’t get the benefits that corporations do in the Republican tax plan. Mr. Johnson has credibility here because he is one of those rare breeds in Congress who actually knows something about running a business — having done so for 30 years.

Mr. Johnson’s beef is that the effective tax rate on a successful small business under the House plan is almost 36 percent (as opposed to 39.6 percent today). This compares the new 20 percent rate for a corporation like GE or Boeing. He’s threatening to vote no if this doesn’t get fixed, and it’s hard to see how a plan can pass with 50 votes without him.