House GOP to Release Debt Plan

House Republicans will release their $261 billion deficit-reduction plan on Tuesday, with a focus on tax cuts. The plan, written by Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, would simplify the tax code by collapsing the current system of six tax brackets down to two marginal rates, Republican aides said Monday. Personal-income rates will be cut to a 25 percent top rate and a 10 percent lower rate; the plan would also lower the top corporate tax rate to 25 percent and scrap the Alternative Minimum Tax. The budget is meant to avoid the $1.2 trillion in spending cuts that will go into effect next January, about which half will come from the Defense Department. The plan also sets up the Republicans’ election-year strategy with President Obama, who has proposed increasing taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year.