DISCOUNTING FOR AN UNDERWATER EARTHQUAKE that sent 40-foot-high waves traveling thousands of miles across the open sea to inflict death and destruction on an unimaginable scale, it was kind of a sleepy holiday for the Washington political community, newswise. So you can understand the titillation that shimmered through the capital when the local paper announced, a few days after Christmas, that President Bush might delay his plan to "simplify" the tax code! "Bush Expected to Delay Major Tax Overhaul," said the headline in the Washington Post. At last there was something else to talk about on Inside Politics.