MarketWatch: "Crawford meeting designed to highlight good economy"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Bush seeks economic attention
Crawford meeting designed to highlight good economy
By Greg Robb & William L. Watts, MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:00 PM ET Aug. 8, 2005

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B3D07D965-6715-4BF9-AB56-D14FE0B36632%7D&siteid=google

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Against a backdrop of falling public approval ratings, President Bush will meet with his economic advisers Tuesday in a bid to take credit for signs the U.S. economy is gaining strength.

"There is certainly an effort to seize the good momentum of the economy and claim some victories there," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. Recent economic indicators show the economy is on sound footing, economists said.

Behind closed doors, the economic team will likely be planning for how to respond to Bush's advisory panel on tax reform, which is due to present its recommendation at the end of September, said Kevin Hassett, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

The Bush team will also discuss the administration's efforts to overhaul the Social Security program. Bush has pushed a plan that would let workers divert a chunk of their payroll taxes into private Social Security accounts while trimming future benefit levels for future middle- and upper-income retirees.


MEANWHILE...

Tax reform or impasse?

By Bruce Bartlett
August 3, 2005

http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20050802-093835-4780r.htm

President Bush says he wants to reform the tax system and has named a tax reform commission which is to issue a report in September. The report was originally due by July 31, but the White House asked for the delay so it would not interfere with Social Security reform, which needs a few more months before it can be declared legally dead.

When this whole effort started, I often said in columns and interviews that the White House made a very serious error in trying to do Social Security reform and tax reform at the same time. The issues were too big, I said, and the White House would be lucky to do one or the other. Trying to do both risked accomplishing neither. The delay in the tax reform report shows the White House has finally started to figure this out.

We still don't know what the commission will recommend. The assumption has been it would endorse one or more comprehensive reform options, such as the flat tax or national retail sales tax. But there are indications the commission report may be more targeted and less comprehensive.

I think we be more likely to get a laundry list of specific recommendations for improving the tax system than a master plan for complete overhaul. But any number of previous reports already have detailed the tax system's specific failings from the standpoint of fairness, efficiency and administrability. They are all gathering dust on library shelves. Also, trying to do tax reform this way means the commission must necessarily develop a list of tax increases to pay for the reforms. The commission has a mandate to make its recommendations "revenue-neutral." This means the package must raise the same revenue as projected under the current tax system -- no more, no less.

[mrdmk]

1. I wonder if Mr. Bush Jr. knows how to balance a check book

If not, what give the gull to think he can do national budget. The only business adventure that worked for him was buying a baseball team, stealing land from the poor for a new stadium all the time being told what to do by other people from beginning to end.

This guy thinks that money grows on trees.