One consequence of the ongoing crazification of the Republican Party is that the standards have now adjusted such that a figure like Tim Pawlenty can propose an economic plan that's utterly bonkers and still be considered boring and mainstream. (Ezra Klein goes through the nutty assumptions, which revolve around the classic supply-side tropes of proposing massive tax cuts, assuming unprecedented long-term growth, and waving away any fiscal ramifications.)

I'll add that Pawlenty's tax plan is more radical than even his critics think. Pawlenty proposes to collapse the tax code into two brackets, 10% and 25%. How little revenue is that?

The 1986 Tax Reform Act created two tax brackets, 15% and 28%. That tax system raised not nearly enough revenue to fund the government, and the next two presidents had to raise taxes in order to get the spiraling deficit under control. Pawlenty would have even lower rates. What's more, Reagan's tax reform eliminated preferential treatment for capital gains and dividends, taxing them at the same rate as other kinds of income. Pawlenty would eliminate taxes on that form of income altogether, opening up massive loopholes and providing a huge windfall to the affluent.

Ramesh Ponnuru shrugs at this part of the plan: