Bush to Delay Major Push for Tax Overhaul, People Familiar Say

[papau]

"Republicans would ensure a simpler, lower, more fair tax system" LOL :-)


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=awZ8H8tBjAAU

Bush to Delay Major Push for Tax Overhaul, People Familiar Say

Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush will delay a major push for revamping the tax code because administration officials concluded the changes are too tough to sell to the public and lawmakers, two people familiar with the matter said. <snip>


Bush hasn't mentioned tax code changes since his Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform issued a 272-page report Nov. 1 recommending two ways to overhaul the tax code. The proposals would reduce or eliminate many popular deductions such as those for mortgage interest and state and local taxes while reducing taxes on investment and abolishing the alternative minimum tax.

<snip>
While Mack, Breaux and the rest of the nine-member panel argue their recommendations as a whole wouldn't dramatically shift tax burdens, the proposals have been criticized by groups such as the National Association of Realtors, the American Council of Life Insurers and the Bond Market Association, which say tax breaks important to the interests they represent may be at risk.

The biggest flashpoints of the panel's recommendations are proposed changes to mortgage interest deductions. The proposals would restructure housing tax incentives now concentrated among higher-income people. No tax benefit would be permitted for interest on a mortgage of more than $412,000; the cap would be as low as $227,000 in some areas with cheaper housing. Current law allows a deduction for interest paid on mortgages up to $1 million for primary mortgages and $100,000 more for home equity loans.<snip>

<snip>
Some Republicans in Congress, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, have criticized the panel's work for not concluding a more radical overhaul is necessary. DeMint is proposing a tax code that would raise revenue from a 8.5 percent national sales tax and a 8.5 percent European-style value-added tax on businesses while eliminating income taxes.

[peacetalksforall]

1. Grover. Steve, and friends are going to cry.

As in Norquist and Forbes.

[papau]

2. true - but with luck Fitz will keep Grover busy - and Steve's not

effective in anything he does.

[phantom power]

3. "a simpler, lower, more fair tax system."

This is one of those myths that just won't die. I remember having a conversation with a co-worker during the 2000 election, and his expert analysis was "Well, Bush may not be the greatest president. But if you think your tax return is complicated now, wait and see what happens if Gore is elected."

This enduring myth is insane. Name one Republican administration (and/or Congress) that has ever actually shrunk the tax-code? Or even left it the same size? What a joke.

A few years later I reminded him that he said that, and that the tax-code had grown more complicated since 2000, not less. No comment.