![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khaosworksGOP Eyes Tax Cuts as Annual Events
By Dana Milbank and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, May 11, 2003; Page A01
By Dana Milbank and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, May 11, 2003; Page A01
With the House's passage of a $550 billion tax cut plan, Congress is moving toward the third tax reduction in as many years for President Bush -- the same number passed in an entire generation before he came to office.A better economist than me will have to figure out the implications of this one, but the most obvious one is this - where the Hell is the federal government going to get the money for public spending on housing, education, medicaid, and so on? Can the states be relied on to have haphazard standards and funding of such things? Does a flagging economy really need, require or is it capable of sustaining more tax cuts? Is deficit spending the true wave of the future? Or is it all headed to disaster? Stay tuned. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel...
Yet the impressive trio of reductions is but a small step toward the administration's goal: nonstop tax cuts.
White House officials have told allies they will attempt a new tax cut every year Bush remains in office, and there is already talk of another round. The ultimate target -- overhauling the tax code and sharply reducing the size of the government -- may never be achieved. But the incremental steps in that direction help to keep the Republican Party unified and the president in an unending debate with Democrats over the tax burden on Americans.
Coupled with the war on terrorism, which also is likely to continue indefinitely, the constant pursuit of tax reductions has the potential to give U.S. politics a new rhythm. With Bush perpetually fighting for lower taxes and constantly battling terrorists -- he describes Iraq and Afghanistan as "battles" in the larger war -- there is little room for government to discuss new spending programs that Democrats want.
Paul Weyrich, a conservative with ties to Bush, said he was told at a White House meeting that "we intend to try to offer a new tax cut every year" -- a view top Bush aides have expressed to a number of business lobbyists. Grover Norquist, an anti-tax advocate who works closely with Bush aides, predicts: "You'll have a tax cut each year. I state it that way in all of the (White House) meetings, and I never get an argument."
But will the strategy continue to succeed?
