I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis.
Late last year I suggested that if republicans want to pass tax cuts this session, they should hold off on a huge package that Bill Clinton and congressional liberals can demagogue to death and cherry pick instead. In other words, go with the most attractive, easiest-to-sell cuts.
The republican leadership must have been listening.
House conservatives will target the marriage penalty, educational expenses, and protecting the Internet from much taxation. The package will be part of a larger republican agenda that will include paying down the debt, freeing trade, and promoting new technology. It should pass, and then they'll dare Bill Clinton to veto it.
The package won't include eliminating death and capital gains taxes, worthy and important measures. But I can live with it, as long as a republican president puts them at the top of his first budget.
In the mean time, let conservatives play politics for a change, and let Clinton play catch-up.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, something new from the NCPA.