Tom Daschle's Tax Problem

The Weekly Standard ^ | 04/29/2002 | Stephen F. Hayes

[Pokey78]

The Senate majority leader wants to make an issue of Bush's tax cut in the next election--even though a dozen Democrats supported it.

"GOOD MORNING, everybody. Tomorrow the House is planning to take up legislation to raid the Social Security trust fund of $400 billion for another tax cut."

With those words, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle began his daily press conference on April 17. It's pretty standard Daschle rhetoric on taxes, and though perhaps technically accurate, it's almost Clintonian in its mendacity. The measure the House took up and passed on April 18 with a 229-198 margin was not for "another tax cut." It's the same tax cut both houses of Congress passed last year. Supporters of the bill simply want to make those tax cuts permanent, rather than allowing them to "sunset" after 10 years as they are now scheduled to do.

The White House is fully behind the bill, though some congressional Republicans say privately that support from the administration comes too late. "Taxpayers need to know they can count on continued lower tax rates as they plan and invest for the future," Bush said last week. "I urge the Senate to act on this measure, because failure to do so would penalize every American who pays federal income taxes."

Daschle, of course, vowed to block the measure after it passed. (On Wednesday he cut a deal with Senate Republicans on energy legislation that will permit a vote on permanence for one provision of the tax--the death tax repeal.) He says Democrats will fight tax-cut permanence "aggressively" right up to November's election. House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, reading over Daschle's shoulder from the same election-year, Republicans-hate-seniors songbook, also tried to make the vote on tax cuts a vote on Social Security.

"Let me assure you that this vote is going to be the subject of a lot of campaigns for the House this fall," he predicted.

Republicans hope it's the subject of a lot of campaigns for the Senate, too. Bush's original tax plan passed with the support of 12 Democrats. Daschle angered those moderate Democrats back in January when he suggested that the tax cuts were responsible for the recession.

"It would clearly become a major issue in 2002," said Texas senator Phil Gramm, when I asked him in January about his effort to make the tax cuts permanent. "I think people would like to know in Missouri, for example, whether Senator Carnahan intended it to be a permanent tax cut or just a short-term deal. To say, 'I voted for the tax cut but I wanted it to be temporary,' is the worst political position to be in."

The GOP logic is simple: Taxpayers supported the tax cuts when Bush ran for president, they supported those same tax cuts after they were signed into law, and they support tax cuts today.

Six of the Democrats who voted for the Bush tax plan face competitive races this fall. And that, of course, is precisely why Daschle won't let tax-cut permanence come up for a vote now. The Senate majority leader may have inadvertently admitted as much in his April 17 press conference.

Here is Daschle's entire opening, as transcribed by the Federal News Service:

"Good morning, everybody. Tomorrow the House is planning to take up legislation to raid the Social Security trust fund of $400 billion for another tax cut. And this is one area that I think divides our party [sic] very directly and very critically. It's an issue that we expect will probably be one that we will have a debate about for the balance of this session of Congress." [emphasis added]

Here's hoping.

[Henchster]

Memo to Dashole:

There is NO trust fund. The Democrats spent it over the last 60 years.

[CalConservative]

Obviously Daschle believes there are people out there who still believe there is a Social Security Trust Fund sitting around somewhere with all kinds of money in it. P.T. Barnum was right.

[MHGinTN]

Actually, I suspect lil' Tommy really believes there's a SS Trust fund!... It would fit with his/Democrat hierarchy skewed view of reality, don'tcha know!

[mattdono]

He says Democrats will fight tax-cut permanence "aggressively" right up to November's election

He better! Because it's curtains! After the election is over, Lil' Tommy Dasshole is going to be just another Senator. Then, in 2004 (or '06, can't remember), he will be out of a job.

House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, reading over Daschle's shoulder

ROTFLMAO! This is just a funny line!