dmcowen674
No Lifer
9-5-2004 Next President to Face Pressure on Taxes
NEW YORK - At their national convention, Republicans were short on specifics on how to pay for an economic agenda in a second Bush administration. One reason is that President Bush could end up having to back a tax increase, just as his father did.
But nobody wanted to spoil the Madison Square Garden party by mentioning such unpleasantries. After all, Republicans are insisting that Democrat John Kerry is the candidate who will increase taxes.
"To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: 'Don't be economic girlie men!'" said California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, reprising a phrase he used to scold state Democratic legislators.
That drew hearty laughter from the convention audience. Yet there is little humor to be had from a close look at budget realities.
"Taxes are going up next year no matter who wins the presidency in November," concluded conservative economist Bruce Bartlett, who advised both Ronald Reagan and the first President Bush.
In his acceptance speech at the convention, Bush said that in a second term he would lead a bipartisan drive "to reform and simplify" the federal income tax. He said it was "a complicated mess filled with special interest loopholes." The president gave no hint of what path he would follow.
Bush still is on track to become the first president since Herbert Hoover in the Great Depression to lose jobs under his watch. Today, there are about 1 million fewer jobs than when Bush moved into the White House.
"It's now impossible for him to break even" on job creation, said Roger Altman, a Treasury official in the Clinton administration and now a Kerry adviser. "They don't want to talk about it (the economy) because it's their weak spot," Altman said.
In his convention speech, Bush laid out an expensive economic agenda for a second term. He did not offer any bold new strokes, as some people had expected. Instead, the ideas were mostly earlier initiatives that were dusted off.
At the convention, Bush was silent on how to pay for any of his second-term proposals.
"A presidential election is a contest for the future," Bush told the party faithful. But on the economic front, most convention speakers could not help but look back to what Vice President Dick Cheney celebrated as "the greatest tax reduction in a generation."
Republicans like to suggest that Bush is following in the path of Reagan, who pushed through Congress the then-biggest tax cut in U.S. history in 1981.
What they usually neglect to mention is that the following year, Reagan reluctantly signed one of the biggest tax increases in history.
NEW YORK - At their national convention, Republicans were short on specifics on how to pay for an economic agenda in a second Bush administration. One reason is that President Bush could end up having to back a tax increase, just as his father did.
But nobody wanted to spoil the Madison Square Garden party by mentioning such unpleasantries. After all, Republicans are insisting that Democrat John Kerry is the candidate who will increase taxes.
"To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: 'Don't be economic girlie men!'" said California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, reprising a phrase he used to scold state Democratic legislators.
That drew hearty laughter from the convention audience. Yet there is little humor to be had from a close look at budget realities.
"Taxes are going up next year no matter who wins the presidency in November," concluded conservative economist Bruce Bartlett, who advised both Ronald Reagan and the first President Bush.
In his acceptance speech at the convention, Bush said that in a second term he would lead a bipartisan drive "to reform and simplify" the federal income tax. He said it was "a complicated mess filled with special interest loopholes." The president gave no hint of what path he would follow.
Bush still is on track to become the first president since Herbert Hoover in the Great Depression to lose jobs under his watch. Today, there are about 1 million fewer jobs than when Bush moved into the White House.
"It's now impossible for him to break even" on job creation, said Roger Altman, a Treasury official in the Clinton administration and now a Kerry adviser. "They don't want to talk about it (the economy) because it's their weak spot," Altman said.
In his convention speech, Bush laid out an expensive economic agenda for a second term. He did not offer any bold new strokes, as some people had expected. Instead, the ideas were mostly earlier initiatives that were dusted off.
At the convention, Bush was silent on how to pay for any of his second-term proposals.
"A presidential election is a contest for the future," Bush told the party faithful. But on the economic front, most convention speakers could not help but look back to what Vice President Dick Cheney celebrated as "the greatest tax reduction in a generation."
Republicans like to suggest that Bush is following in the path of Reagan, who pushed through Congress the then-biggest tax cut in U.S. history in 1981.
What they usually neglect to mention is that the following year, Reagan reluctantly signed one of the biggest tax increases in history.
