August 20, 2004

It's been said that every Presidential campaign needs one strong and solid message - something that people can focus on, something that people can identify with and get behind, something that people can see as the "centerpiece" of the candidate's campaign. This election year will be no different, so President Bush will need to identify an issue and make that issue the centerpiece of his Presidental re-relection campaign.

I realize that I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that President Bush has already chosen his "theme," and I think that he's about to hit a home run with his choice. No, scratch that - he isn't about to hit a home run, he's about to pound a grand slam, clear out of the park.

Two weeks ago, I added a link on the Daily Page to an article about Bush campaigning in Virginia. Knowing that Virginia is traditionally a Republican stronghold, and knowing that recent polls indicate that Virginia is fast becoming a battleground state, I linked to that article with the headline, "Bush campaigning in......... Virginia? (not a good sign, kids)." That article also reports that at that campaign stop, President Bush made the following statement:

He criticized Democrat John Kerry's proposal to eliminate tax cuts for the wealthy, saying that "the rich in America happen to be small business owners" who put people to work.

Bush added that "the really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway."

"What?" I thought. What an odd thing to say. Of course, I understood that the statement was (probably) made in jest. Sure, I understood that the whole crazy idea that only the rich pay taxes is just that, a crazy, ludicrous idea - but why would Bush say something as potentially damaging as that? After all, he knows, better than anyone, that the media loves a soundbyte. And here he is, serving up what could prove to be one of the most politically damaging soundbytes of his entire career.

While the tradtional media (strangely) largely ignored the comment, the liberal end of the blogosphere surely didn't miss it. There was a lot talk that it was Bush "showing his true colors, in a rare moment of honesty," etc.

I had almost completely forgotten about it until I was reading this article over at RedState last night. I found this to be an excellent point:

My own suggestion is to revive the old Dick Armey tactic ... and adopt a "do your taxes on a postcard" policy - consisting of a flatter tax ... and the elimination of the IRS. I think President Bush would pull off the visual well - holding up a postcard with "1040" printed on it, and forcing the Democrats to respond in two ways: defending the status quo (the IRS - ewww), or returning to even more class warfare rhetoric about the rich folks who would inevitably pay less ...(emphasis added)

I think that this point is dead on.

The Dems have gone all in and made two issues the centerpiece of their campaign : 1. "Bring the troops home," and 2. "Roll back the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy." President Bush has already started taking away their first hot-button-issue by announcing plans for a major troop realignment for US forces in Asia and Europe. Unable to respond in any other way, the Dems (typically) didn't address the move at all, but instead questioned the timing of the announcement. If President Bush were to make the elimination of the IRS his central campaign issue, there is almost no way that the Dems could effectively counter it.

The next time John Kerry charges out and says "let's roll back the tax cuts for the rich!," President Bush could knock the wind out of his Nantucket sails by saying "I couldn't agree more."

He would then go on to explain:

• The rich always seem to find clever ways to avoid paying taxes.
  
• That's because taxes are too complicated.
  
• It's not fair that the rich should be able to use clever tax loopholes to get more money to spend on frivolous things, while the working man pays income tax on the money that he puts into the bank for savings, and then pays income tax again on the interest that he earns on that money.
  
• So lets simplify things. Let's eliminate the income tax, and tax everything except food and clothing.
  
• If you're working hard and saving $, you have 33% more money, because you pay no taxes.
  
• If the rich are out there buying high priced fancy cars, they'll pay more taxes.
  
• Things will get more expensive, but you'll have 33% more money. If you take home $30,000 a year today, You'll take home $40,000 next year. Are you really going to spend $10,000 more a year on cars and jewelery? No, because most American families live paycheck to paycheck. Jewelery makes up maybe 1% of their overall annual budget.
  

I think the pre-announcement that Dennis Hastert's new book includes a plan to eliminate the IRS is a sort of "testing the waters" for the idea. And I think that President Bush's campaign speech in GOP-friendly Virginia, where he dropped the out-of-character line "the really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway" was another test.

There are many that say that the plan won't work, that a national sales can't completely replace the IRS, and these people may well be right. Indeed, the Bush message will likely be "working towards eliminating the IRS."

In any event, I think that this campaign message would have only a tremendous upside for President Bush, politically speaking. First and foremost, it takes away the Dems' centerpiece issue. Secondly, it gives the impression that the Bush White House is about real solutions, about "radical solutions," not just the same-old-same-old political mumbo-jumbo. People want solutions, people want radical ideas and "progress." What could be more "progressive" than eliminating the most feared and hated government agency? Ever "progressive" California would be all over this one. And finally, the plan has the further strength of bringing the now straying fiscally conservative and libertarian-leaning factions of the party back into the fold as well.

Personally, I think that eliminating income tax is an idea well worth considering. I know that it's hard for many Americans to believe today, but back in 1913 when the 16th Amendment was ratified, the idea of a government taxing the incomes of its citizens was as outrageous an idea as the government trying to tax air or water. Regardless of whether a national sales tax proves a fair and effective replacement for the IRS, one thing is for certain - the American people hate paying taxes, and the American people like to make their own decisions. A proposal to eliminate the current forced income redistribution system in the US and replace it with one that offers more personal autonomy is sure to get a positive reaction.

Posted by jkhat at August 20, 2004 04:14 PM

    The trackback entry for this page is : http://www.inthehat.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/343