White House Backs Away from Tax Code Revamp
Using the Washington Post today as its vehicle for communicating the change of plan, the Bush Administration pointed out that the Treasury Department would still convene a panel to study and make recommendations regarding the redesign of the U.S. tax structure.
The less-than-subtle shift from a must-do project to a proposal only under longer-term consideration had observers speculating on the cause. Among the possibilities are these:
- Congressional Republicans may have told the White House that the pressing need to cut the budgets of most domestic programs would absorb far too much time and political capital on the floors and committees of the House and the Senate. The budget cuts, while virtually certain, will nonetheless stir debate and possibly months of wrangling. Simultaneously moving the burden of taxes substantially onto labor and away from capital could have damaging repercussions clear to the mid-term Elections in 2006. Coupled with the expected opposition to the partial privatization of Social Security by a politically weakened but still-powerful coalition of labor unions, senior citizen advocacy groups, and others, Congress may not want a third front opened up in its war with moderates and liberals.
- Radically restructuring the tax code carries the risk of radically re-aligning the timing of and variations in tax revenues collected by the federal government. With the partial privatization of Social Security projected by some analysts to cost as much as two trillion dollars, House and Senate leaders might have quietly expressed something less than enthusiasm for any plan that could cause fundamental disruptions in the flow of tax revenues to the coffers of the Treasury.
It might be that the tax overhaul plans touted earlier in the week were just a warning shot to get people used to the idea that yet another component of the way things used to be done—the way the government and its citizens dealt with one another for almost three-quarters of a century—will be coming to an end, piece by piece, over the course of the next four years.
Published 12/28/2004 10:11:58 PM
<< 12 Comments Total
I thought that maybe last week's story was either used to float the idea or just to warm people up to the bad news. The latter seems to make sense.
What DOES this administration ever have up its sleeves?
You never can tell.
--cam
Good evening, Cam.
The sad part is that, whereas most shysters have an ace up their sleeve, this is one who has a knack for pulling the deuce of spades out every time.
The trick for getting the audience to applaude is, of course, to convince the audience that the deuce is the highest card they should ever expect to see.
The Dark Wraith shuffles the deck.
I am wondering something, Wraith. Do the conservatives see themselves in need of a make-over? Let me clarify (or try to). By "conservative," I am referring to the politcal party in currently power. I wondered, after the election, if they emerged victorious but with their images quite tarnished. It was an ugly slog, as we all saw for ourselves. It seems as a collective force, they are trying not to appear like the big ugly bully on the playground. Even republican voters don't like the look of an unstoppable juggernaut, an all-powerful government coming down with the full strength of its weight. I wonder if restructuring the tax code just would have been too much too soon. The government would have indeed looked like that "unstoppable juggernaut." I don't think that's the whole of the adminstration's thinking, but I just wonder how much the idea of public perception plays into their decision making, especially now in a lame duck situation.
Just a ramblin'
--cam
Good evening, Cam.
Although, many within the Bush Administration suffer from the age-old "drunk with power" syndrome, as evidenced by that reporter's description of the diatribe by the Administration official about how the Republicans are creating a new "reality," in my judgment, there is some effort afoot to create an air of moderation.
This has its precedent in the Reagan Administration: the second term was marked by the moderate Republican graybeards more or less grabbing Mr. Reagan by the scruff of the neck and dragging him away from the reckless radicals who had embarrassed him and his party during the early 1980s with their Iran-contra scandal, budget-busting tax cuts and over-spending, and other (some, far less well-known) fiascos.
The problem is that, unlike the Reagan Administration, the Bush Administration did not labor under a first term with an aggressive press or a restive Congress that kept exposing the massive and world-altering policy errors. This has allowed the current cabal to enter their second term with every last drop of the hubris with which they swaggered through their first four years. It has also left those within the Republican Party who hate their guts with no apparent handle with which to wrench Mr. Bush into a reality check... yet.
It will come, though: mark my word, it will come. Within the year, the Bush Administration will be embarrassed, and the recipients of the embarrassments will be very close to Mr. Bush, himself—close enough for that small and incompetent little man to feel the breeze as the media begins to pick off the unfavored.
And guess what, Cam: it won't be the eviscerated, castrated Democrats who will be getting this ball rolling. No, sir.
The dogs of political war will be unleashed by those who know where they are sleeping.
I, for one, am looking forward to the excitement.
The Dark Wraith listens for the sound of extremists about to become Fido's chew-toy.
DW, finally a fine and good prediction to 2005! If it comes true I might even kiss you! ;) By the way I have another comment to make about the blog... It get's confusing to track down what thread keeps active and where are the latest posts... is it possible to do something about that? Sometimes you can get lost trying to discover and see the latest post...
Good morning, Joseph.
I, too, have noticed that it is sometimes difficult to tell when a thread has unread comments on it. I have been trying to figure out an alternative to the standard way the problem is resolved.
One alteration I really need to make is to insert a NO-CACHE meta-tag. I have noticed that Internet Explorer in its default configuration has a bad habit of reloading the pages without checking to see if any changes have happened since the last load. (That REFRESH meta-tag I removed by popular demand was a feeble half-attempt at dealing with the problem.)
Regarding the problem you have noted, though, if worse comes to worse, I shall invoke the normal way to deal with the issue.
I'm working on it.
The Dark Wraith pounds his head on the desk.
[Ow. That doesn't seem to be working at all.]
cam:
If you assume that Rove is the "Boss Tweed" of this operation (a roughly appropriate assumption in my opinion), then it makes sense to learn how he thinks. Check this out.
It won't answer all your questions about what they're up to, but at least you'll see how the underlying political philosophy of the political boss works, and that may give you some insight.
- oddjob
Oddjob: thanks for the link. There is, somewhere around here and among the stacks of Atlantic magazines, one with a typically in-depth article that discusses the mechanics of the Rovian mind. I have promised to read it, but I've suspected for a while that I am resisting because I don't want to know just how efficiently the Republican machine is run. Rove is frighteningly brilliant, and incredibly ruthless. (Though it is not just him, or is it? Is HE really the brain trust? Is Rove where it all begins, or is he "just" a cog in a huge wheel, albeit a big cog?)
The GOP is very conscious about the way it is seen by the public, as we all know. Everything comes down to perception, I think. It seems that what we see and hear everyday can only be cooked up in a board room, calculated down to the last detail by very brilliant people sitting around long heavy tables over coffee. I am positive that these are not primarily politicos, but marketing types. Psychologists. People who know what it takes to bend and twist human perception. Perhaps I am being paranoid, but I never, ever take anything I see or read at face value. Why is McCain blasting Rumsfeld? And why now, for example. What are his hidden agendas? Who's lying in any given situation? Why is this being played out in this way? Where is the truth? Why, it's hanging out in plain sight, if you can find it.
Confusion is part of the strategy, I think, which is why this tug-of-war with the tax code restructuring is so interesting. No one knows what the hell is going on. Here, tax restructuring. No, no restructuring now. We are focusing on SS reform. Later on, no, we can't mess with the SS right now, back to tax code. Everyone begins to tune out, except for those who either wrote "Economics for Dummies" or read it very closely, and that's when the government gets ya! Gods! I do sound paranoid.
I do think, though, there's something to this. There is always strategy involved. The average person gets so weary by all the chatter, you just tune out or just wish the government would do something, already! Another scenario: after hearing about all the truly awful stuff they COULD do, you are much more willing to accept the not-as-awful-but-still-bad stuff they really had cooking up in the first place. They threatened to take with two hands, but now they are only going to take with one.
Apologizing in advance for the babble.
--cam
There is one thing that has puzzled me, about which any bloggers may comment:
For a man that has just weaseled his way back into another four year term, Dubya seems oddly defensive, almost unsure of himself on camera lately. I would have thought that the cockiness he displayed during the race would translate into greater calm and self-confidence (especially since he's now clensing his staff and the CIA of the few independent voices available). Is there some deep do-do on the political horizon that he and his people know about that we don't? (I'd almost say that he looks like he feels guilty about something- say, stealing an election?- except that that would presume that he has a conscience, which is debatable to say the least).
Apologizing in advance for the babble.
--cam
Good post, not a babble. I sometimes get frustrated with the level of credit given by some to the GOP like they're the smartest thing since sliced white bread (to go with that Spam sanwich). Yes, they have some sharp minds (more than just rove), but like you said, it comes down to perception. In this case, it seems more like a mental intimidation that works because of the dumbing down of the sheeple. That, and the fact that the dems haven't played dirty to the degree that this administration has been willing to do.
There are alot of folks that see through the GOP's bullshit, but it just doesn't seem that many of them are planning and leading the charge.
They threatened to take with two hands, but now they are only going to take with one.
Yeah, and the other hand is behind their back with fingers crossed. Just wait and see.
I thought I'd follow-up with a bit of light reading before the New Year:
Explosive BBC Doc Exposes
Decades-Old Neocon Deceits
Essential Maneuvers
To Forestall Armageddon
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