By By Ben Alexander/The Meridian Star
Jan. 26, 2001
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's partial endorsement of tax cuts is good news for President Bush's $1.6 trillion tax package, according to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
Bush's 10-year tax plan has been criticized by Democrats in Washington who contend it will put a strain on a weakening economy, and that the money would better be spent on paying down the national debt.
Greenspan told congressional members Thursday that budget surpluses could be larger than had been expected leaving the window open for tax cuts. Although Greenspan apparently agrees with some form of tax cut, he did defer the question of whether or not the Bush plan was too big for Congress to decide.
Lott said he believed some form of a tax cut would be passed this year, and that it will address specific problems in the tax codes.
Lott also said he believes a vote on some form of campaign finance reform could be taken in the Senate by March or April. Lott said Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who has sponsored legislation aimed at stopping the flow of "soft money" into political campaigns, understands the need to let President Bush set his agenda in motion.
Lott said he did not support the McCain-Fiengold Bill because it didn't cover enough issues.
Lott said some of McCain's proposals don't cover election law reforms and that they would, in fact, take too much power away from citizens by limiting private contributions.
Without those private contributions, Lott said, the political aspirations of many of America's blue-collar workers would be destroyed because they couldn't afford to pay their own campaign expenses.
Ben Alexander is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at balexander@themeridianstar.com.