Bush’s Tax Reforms Won't Worsen Deficit, Says Snow

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

20 September 2004

President Bush’s plans to reform the tax code during a second term will not increase the budget deficit, US Treasury Secretary John Snow told an audience last Thursday.

Addressing reporters following a speech to the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, Snow revealed that the Bush administration has set a priority of cutting the deficit in half over the next five years “and everything we do will be done within that framework."

Bush has been indicating for some time that the next four years would see work begin on simplifying the US tax code. Whilst the President has offered little in the way of detailed policy, he announced at the Republican Convention the desire to establish a bi-partisan commission to study the possibility.

However, a large question mark remains over how any radical reform could be achieved at a time when the budget deficit, predicted by the Congressional Budget Office to reach $420 billion for 2004, is at record levels.

On this question, Snow was tight-lipped:

"We're going to await the recommendations on options from the bipartisan panel, so it's premature to talk about what the panel might come up with and what ultimate recommendations we might give the president," he stated.

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