12.15.2004
Bush Allies May Defect Over Fiscal Proposals (WashingtonPost.com)
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 15, 2004; Page A01
The AARP bulletined its 35 million members last week that President Bush's plan to make personal investment accounts part of Social Security was the "wrong direction" and would "make the problem worse." The National Retail Federation has cautioned lawmakers that a national sales tax would hurt the economy. And health lobbyists have begged the White House to retain tax breaks for health insurance.
As the White House opens a two-day conference today to promote its second-term fiscal priorities, powerful interest groups that once supported Bush are either actively working to undercut him or are wary of his proposals. The result, experts say, is that the president will probably have a hard time passing his ambitious plans, which include cracking down on medical malpractice lawsuits and overhauling both the federal tax code and Social Security.
"Combining all three of these major issues mobilizes the largest interest groups in America, including the trial lawyers and AARP," said James A. Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. Added Marshall Wittmann, a former Republican congressional staffer and now a senior fellow at the pro-business Democratic Leadership Council, "No one has ever tried to do as many of these at once, and he will be very lucky if he achieves just one of his goals, let alone all of them."
(More ... Bush Allies May Defect Over Fiscal Proposals (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 22:43
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 15, 2004; Page A01
The AARP bulletined its 35 million members last week that President Bush's plan to make personal investment accounts part of Social Security was the "wrong direction" and would "make the problem worse." The National Retail Federation has cautioned lawmakers that a national sales tax would hurt the economy. And health lobbyists have begged the White House to retain tax breaks for health insurance.
As the White House opens a two-day conference today to promote its second-term fiscal priorities, powerful interest groups that once supported Bush are either actively working to undercut him or are wary of his proposals. The result, experts say, is that the president will probably have a hard time passing his ambitious plans, which include cracking down on medical malpractice lawsuits and overhauling both the federal tax code and Social Security.
"Combining all three of these major issues mobilizes the largest interest groups in America, including the trial lawyers and AARP," said James A. Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. Added Marshall Wittmann, a former Republican congressional staffer and now a senior fellow at the pro-business Democratic Leadership Council, "No one has ever tried to do as many of these at once, and he will be very lucky if he achieves just one of his goals, let alone all of them."
(More ... Bush Allies May Defect Over Fiscal Proposals (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 22:43
