Marathon Pundit: Roskam speaks at National Journal's Tax Reform Policy Summit

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), the Chief Deputy Whip of the House, participated in the National Journal's Tax Reform Policy Summit, he was joined Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Here's a key excerpt from the Wheaton Republican's speech:

In 1986 there was clearly a high degree of personal presidential engagement by President Reagan. He basically turned the high-beams on [Chicago Democratic congressman Dan] Rostenkowski and just did the complete charm offensive and it worked and the net result is this package that everybody celebrates today. We don't see that level of presidential leadership and it's necessary as a component. I'm not convinced that it could never be forthcoming but we haven’t seen it yet. We're still waiting for the Treasury White Paper on tax reform. Alright, that being said, if President Obama is reelected, then I think there’s a framework within which guys like me can work with Pres Obama on tax questions. If another president is elected then the [tax reform] framework is about as big as this room. It would really be open field running from a political point of view. I would suggest it could be far more dynamic and far more robust but to your point you need house, senate, and clearly presidential leadership to all be fully engaged.