The plan called for "a tax code that is simple enough for all citizens to have at least a basic understanding of how the system works and how their own tax obligations are determined" (23). During his 1984 State of the Union speech, Reagan announced a charge to the Treasury Department to create a tax plan modeled after Bradley's proposal. While Reagan turned out to have misjudged Mondale's desire to tout tax reform as a key issue in the presidential race, he inadvertently set in motion the groundwork for what would soon be the biggest tax reform legislation in US history.
Reagan commissioned Secretary of the Treasury Don Regan to create the plan that he eagerly promised in his State of the Union address. Regan took the president's charge seriously, and cut nearly every loophole from the tax code. He proposed slashing personal income taxes and rising corporate taxes to compensate for the lost revenue. The plan was called Treasury I and it was the most radical tax proposal Washington had ever seen, but with its huge corporate tax increases, the plan was widely considered politically impossible. Nevertheless, President Reagan praised Treasury I in his 1985 State of the Union address. His apparent approval of Treasury I, however, was seemingly enhanced by his outright ignorance of most of the proposal's substantive details. After learning just how drastic Treasury I was, the plan was abandoned. .
Again, the authors of Gucci Gulch showed how the Tax Reform was bounced around, not taken very seriously, pushed through and then abruptly forgotten. The bill was again rekindled after Jim Baker replaced Don Regan as Treasury Secretary. This plan was a more balanced proposal that served to keep the reform process moving. The new plan was met with large support from the President, and after a few minor changes, the plan was introduced to the House. Although Regan took little interest in understanding the specifics of his own tax proposal, without his support Congress would have never considered the policy.