Posted on 12/06/2002 8:39:39 AM PST by CanisMajor2002
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, architect of the president's tax cuts, resigned within minutes of each other Friday, officials said.
The resignations, effective in the next few weeks, came as the Labor Deparetment announced unemployment in November increased to 6 percent, the highest level in nine years.
It was not clear if the resignations were coordinated, related to the spike in unemployment or were requested by the White House.
"They resigned," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said repeatedly when asked if the departures were part of a house cleaning.
"I've said everything I'm going to say" on that.
"The answer will always be the same. They resigned."
O'Neill has been a lightning rod for criticism by Democrats and others over an economy the president concedes is "bumping along."
"The data continues to be mixed on the economy," Fleischer said, and Friday's unemployment figure "was a setback" for positive trends, such as lower interest rates, low inflation and some growth in the economy.
President George W. Bush, while touting the positive, has repeatedly expressed in speeches his concern about stimulating the economy and creating job growth.
"The president very much appreciates the service of Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Larry Lindsey," Fleischer said, and their contributions to getting Congress to pass tax cuts, new trade authority, terrorism insurance and other measures.
"They have both served the president ably and well in leading the nation from a period of recession into a period of growth," Fleischer said.
Fleischer said no successor for O'Neill was in place, but the president would look for a candidate with government and private-sector experience.
O'Neill was head of the industrial giant Alcoa when Bush tapped him to be his administration's first treasury secretary, largely because of his close relations to Vice President Dick Cheney and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
Lindsey is a prominent supply-side economist who was appointed a Federal Reserve governor by the current president's father. Lindsey also played an important advisory role in President George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign.
Both men have been the focus of criticism from the GOP pro-growth wing for some time. Calls for O'Neill's resignation have built steadily almost from the beginning.
Early speculation as to their replacements is mute, but names frequently mentioned in the past include retiring House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, former Texas GOP Sen. Phil Gramm and magazine publisher Steve Forbes --all favorites of the GOP's pro-growth wing.
Do us a favor...go back to the DU and make it another 9 or 10 months before we have to read your half-baked, copy and past propaganda again.
(They think they have ISS-EWWWS, LOL)
Hrm, you can read the date but you didn't read the rest of the profile. They say you ain't a FReeper until you've been flamed, but if you're going to do it, be informed first! :)
For the third time, and perhaps a different way, I'm going to phrase this: In an article that says there is a "pro-growth" wing of the Republican Party, the implication is made that there must be an "anti-growth" wing. Is there anyone (but not RINO) who would be part of such weirdness? Isn't the article redundant on this? :)
Sound on policy as the day is long; he wrote after the 1980 election that the government should sell gold in a big way. Price was high at the time, how do you argue with success? And the Kemp-Roth bill was a revolution in its time; we're all Laffer Curve proponents now but in the seventies Kemp was a pretty lonely voice for tax-rate sanity.He snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on the "compassion" front, tho--by accepting Gore's personal flattery at the expense of the reputation of the Republican Party's base. As VP candidate his objective should have been to position the Republican voter favorably--instead he allowed Gore to do the opposite. It was a pathetic performance which wrote finis to his hopes for elective national office.
And he does not suffer fools gladly; were GWB to name Kemp it would amount to signing off on whatever Kemp wanted to do. It would not however be unlike W to name such a person, if indeed he was in full agreement with Kemp's policy prescriptions. Kemp has gravitas, like the rest of the administration.
For myself, I'd name Steve Forbes and go hard over for the flat tax. I'd sell the lack of a mortgage interest deduction with the point that the interest deduction simply balances out the tax premium the market gives the mortgage holder, above the tax-free bond interest rate. So you'd have to refinance (once) and be clear of the need for itemizing mortgage interest, unharmed.
And I'd sell the removal of the charitable deduction on the basis that it would free the charities from government restrictions (i.e., no politics in church) imposed on tax-deductible charities at present.
He should have stuck with it. We need more supply siders, especially in government.
Pat Toomey, Joe Pitts, and Rick Santorum might disagree with that conclusion.
Gotta admit, she got in a good zinger!
No Republican would admit to be "anti-growth."OTOH before the Kemp-Roth tax-cut proposal ultimately implemented as "Reaganomics" the Republican Party was the party of the balanced budget--Democrats would raise spending, Republicans would fight to raise revenues by raising tax rates. Great politics, right?!
Kemp comes along, derides Dole as "the tax collector for the welfare state", and demands a 30% rate cut as a means to increase revenue. Under Reagan that was implemented as a 25% cut, and derided by the Democratic Party as "Reaganomics." RWR noted that he knew his program was working when they stopped calling it "Reaganomics."
In essence "pro-growth" is code for "advocacy of tax rate cuts on the basis that they pay for themselves by increasing the tax base." A.k.a., "faith in the free market."
YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU EXPRESSED YOUR POINT WITHOUT NAME-CALLING! You have now graduated to the fourth grade. UNBELIEVABLE!
I didn't think you could do it.
Now we need to work on that penchant of yours not to let the facts get in the way of a good story.
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