Bush, House "cave" on taxes

Senate GOP moderates, including the embattled Voinovich, have won the battle for the president's latest round of irresponsible tax cuts.

Republican tax writers plan to send President Bush an economic stimulus package just over half the size of the one he wanted, completing the $400 billion tax cut and spending bill before Memorial Day.

Republican moderates worried about record budget deficits blocked the White House from winning the $726 billion tax cut that the administration offered as the best recipe for economic growth.

Instead, GOP leaders and tax writers decided in a meeting with Bush on Monday to assemble a bill that cuts taxes $350 billion over the coming decade and spends roughly an additional $50 billion on state aid and child tax credits, said a congressional official speaking on condition of anonymity.

This is quite amazing, considering that both Bush and DeLay had vowed to stick to their $550 billion tax cut. It's not every day you see Bush compromise on anything (especially considering he started at $726 billion.

Of course, Bush will declare victory. The actual number is quite irrelevant to the general public.

It's simply a bit surprising to see, despite any rhetoric coming from Bush's camp, the president not get what he really wanted.

No tax cuts would've been better. The last thing the nation needs right now is another $350 billion shortfall in revenue as it drowns in a sea of red ink.

Update: Warren Buffet writes:

When you listen to tax-cut rhetoric, remember that giving one class of taxpayer a "break" requires -- now or down the line -- that an equivalent burden be imposed on other parties. In other words, if I get a break, someone else pays. Government can't deliver a free lunch to the country as a whole. It can, however, determine who pays for lunch. And last week the Senate handed the bill to the wrong party.

Supporters of making dividends tax-free like to paint critics as promoters of class warfare. The fact is, however, that their proposal promotes class welfare. For my class.

Posted May 20, 2003 07:03 AM | Comments (96)