A Taxing Agenda

TCS Daily ^ | 8/17/2006 | Pejman Yousefzadeh

[Jane2005]

To paraphrase Marx and Engels: a specter is haunting the Bush Administration, the specter of a nonexistent popular domestic agenda.

Given the Administration's dramatic failure to push for Social Security reform last year, it would seem that it has shied away from dreaming big dreams when it comes to fashioning a general domestic policy agenda or a specific initiative that might give its domestic policy program some definition.

But there exists an initiative to be pursued that would significantly improve policy while at the same time allowing the Administration and Congressional Republicans to gain popularity with the electorate: tax reform. Talk of tax reform is at its peak at around filing time but in reality, tax reform shouldn't just be talked about during the month of April.

The Bush Administration should seize on the issue of tax reform, draft a package, and push along with Congressional Republicans for approval. In doing so, the Administration and Congressional Republicans will both help their political prospects and can significantly improve the nature of tax policy.

In fact, there are three major reasons why the Administration should pursue tax reform. They involve the three P's -- Politics, Policy and Personnel.