Tips for a Tax Cut

The Bush administration has done a remarkable job in recent weeks of pushing a budget that runs counter to most Americans’ basic values. The Crimson commends the president on his technique, and we offer the following four-step program to future pols hoping to emulate Bush in shielding the wealthy:

First, fix a number. Bush has been touting the magic $1.6 trillion figure ever since the election, making sure that any Democratic alternative—$500 billion, $900 billion, $1.27 trillion—must march inexorably upward to achieve compromise. The fact that the cut will actually cost trillions more, most of which conveniently falls after the 10-year estimating period, will go ignored.

Second, pass it quick. Last week the administration labored mightily to get the tax measure passed before anyone knew what would be cut to pay for it. Thanks to Sen. James Jeffords (R-Vt.), the Senate didn’t swallow it whole, but the bait-and-switch almost worked.

Third, turn cuts into increases. Bush says he’ll increase discretionary spending by four percent, but most of that comes from including emergency spending that used to be off-budget. Regularly scheduled programs will be cut instead of expanded. Who but a bean-counter could tell?

Fourth, confuse the public. Cut AIDS prevention, but give some to AIDS research. Cut state prisons, but add a bit for federal prisons. Make new programs that do less than old programs but will take a while for the public to evaluate. (We could do both, but then we wouldn’t have a tax cut!) When the Secretary of Housing and Human Services Tommy Thompson was confronted yesterday on proposed cuts to AIDS treatment, child abuse prevention and rural health care, he quickly changed the subject to new after-school programs and accused anyone who noted the difference of using “fuzzy Washington math.”

Most Americans don’t pay enough attention to catch the details. So to pass a tax cut, make sure the devil’s in them.