WP: GOP Agenda in Congress May Be at Risk

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301065.html

GOP Agenda in Congress May Be at Risk
Katrina's Costs, High Fuel Prices Generate Pressure Against Further Tax Cuts

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 4, 2005; Page A04

Republican leaders intended to return to work with a dream agenda for small-government conservatives: permanent repeal of the estate tax, an extension of deep cuts to capital gains and dividend taxes, the first entitlement spending cuts in nearly a decade, and the advent of private investment accounts for Social Security.

But Congress and the White House are on the spot to respond to Hurricane Katrina's historic Gulf Coast destruction and skyrocketing gasoline prices, and the leadership is feeling pressure to set aside or jettison parts of that well-laid agenda.

The federal budget already is stretched by spending on the war in Iraq and a nearly $11 billion emergency hurricane relief package that was rushed through Congress late this week. GOP leaders will have to justify additional tax relief for upper-income people at a time of civil and economic crisis.

"How do you do tax cuts when your budget is straining to save lives?" asked Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla). The Ways and Means Committee on which Foley serves had been set to pass a package of tax cuts and spending cuts by the end of September, followed by broad, controversial Social Security legislation. Katrina "is going to have a tremendous impact," he added.

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