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November 17, 2004 10:46 AM

Bush Advisors Urge Deeper Tax Cuts In 2nd Term


Excerpt: Although Mr. Bush's outside advisers at the Hoover Institution think tank at Stanford University say a flat-tax system is desirable, they do not think that it, or a national sales tax, has the political support needed to win approval from Congress. Instead, they urge Mr. Bush to follow the revenue-neutral policy course set by President Reagan in his second term when he broadened the tax base by getting rid of special-interest loopholes, exemptions and credits and applied the revenue gains to lowering the tax rates further.


STANFORD, Calif. -- Economic advisers who helped President Bush craft his first-term tax cuts favor deeper across-the-board rate reductions instead of more radical alternatives to the tax system, which are viewed as unlikely to pass.

Although Mr. Bush's outside advisers at the Hoover Institution think tank at Stanford University say a flat-tax system is desirable, they do not think that it, or a national sales tax, has the political support needed to win approval from Congress.

Instead, they urge Mr. Bush to follow the revenue-neutral policy course set by President Reagan in his second term when he broadened the tax base by getting rid of special-interest loopholes, exemptions and credits and applied the revenue gains to lowering the tax rates further.

"The best thing to do is what Reagan did and keep lowering the income-tax rates across the board," said Martin Anderson, who was Mr. Reagan' first White House domestic adviser and part of Mr. Bush's team of policy advisers in his 2000 campaign.

Like other economists at Hoover, from where Mr. Bush has drawn many of his policy advisers, Mr. Anderson likes the idea of a flat tax, but said it would be difficult, if not impossible, to apply it to every income level without having some paying more than they do now.

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Read all 46 posts in the same category of Tax:

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