Cragg Hines: Read his lips ( finally): No new tax cuts

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HoustonChronicle.com - Hines: Read his lips (finally): No new tax cuts
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/hines/2056519
Aug. 20, 2003, 12:06AM

Read his lips (finally): No new tax cuts
By CRAGG HINES

What a wimp. Hundreds of billions left to spread among his pals in the boardroom and locker room, and all of a sudden President Bush goes cool on tax cuts. Why would he sacrifice the economic security of some of his best friends (and contributors) just to seek to ensure his own re-election? How selfish. How un-Republican.

Bush is going to have a lot of explaining to do to his so-far faithful partisan troops in the House who stand ready to bankrupt the nation in the name of deficit-engorging "tax relief." Why, Tom DeLay may have to find some way to shut down the government again (which, keep in mind, is the ultimate aim of some of the Republican Right anyway).


In this atmosphere, the Bush administration's move away from tax cuts has been building over the last few months. In June, at his confirmation hearing to head the Office of Management and Budget, Joshua B. Bolten, a senior Bush policy adviser since the 2000 campaign, said the president "at this point has no plans for a future tax cut." Proposals for additional cuts would come from "a cold-eyed view of the economic situation." Translation: If the Dow hit, say 6,500 or we lost another million or so jobs, we might be persuaded to take another look.

Then after conferring with economic advisers whom he summoned to the ranch last week, Bush himself declared: "We feel like the tax relief plans that we passed will be robust enough to create the conditions necessary for economic growth, and therefore people find a job." Translation: Who did we think we were fooling?
"If we change our opinion," Bush added, "we will let you know." Translation: See translation of Bolton above.