A Believer In Tax Cuts
Didn't the White House increase long-term liabilities with its Medicare drug benefit?
It was a step forward this country had to take. It was ridiculous that we had a Medicare system designed in the 1960s that in the 21st century still didn't provide prescription drugs.
The president doesn't seem to be getting much traction on his Social Security proposal.
The president's plan, which includes personal accounts, is a pretty big challenge politically because it's a problem that will only be fully visible or tangible to people a decade or two from now, at which point it will be enormously harder to fix. The president has made a great deal of progress in educating the American people about a problem that, to many people, seems to be on the other side of the horizon.
And yet private accounts won't shore up the system.
Private accounts are an essential part of a comprehensive solution. In and of themselves, they don't have a major effect on the overall solvency of the system. But they do provide an opportunity for younger workers to get a better deal out of the system.
The 2006 budget the president submitted in February made a real attempt to shrink or cut some federal programs. How is that budget faring on Capitol Hill?
The House of Representatives has accepted, in whole or in part, somewhere around two thirds of the 154 cuts we proposed. So we're making some real progress. The Senate is a more challenging situation. But I have optimism that the Congress will be able to deliver something at or close to what the president has asked for.
How about simplifying the tax code?
There are a great number of complexities and unfairnesses built into the code that reduce the efficiency of our economy and provide perverse incentives and are unnecessarily complicated. There are great opportunities for reform there. The president directed the treasury secretary to look into it, and he's appointed a commission to study it and report back in September. That will set off a process of serious consideration of tax reform.
But I don't want to understate the political difficulty of tax reform. Every provision in the code has several patrons in Congress, so fundamental reform is going to be a very heavy political lift. My own view is that it's worth it and we ought to be able to do it on a bipartisan basis. Republicans and Democrats have to realize we have a tax code badly in need of reform.
You've taken a much less confrontational approach toward Congress than your predecessor did. Do you think it's working?
Everybody has [his] own style. I spent time on Capitol Hill as a staffer for the Senate Finance Committee. I'm comfortable working on the Hill. If the word is I've got good relationships going there, I'm glad.
The president's nickname for you is "Yosh"?
I think it's just a derivative of my name. I had a variety of nicknames in the 2000 campaign. This one is the most courteous, so I'm glad it's the one that stuck.
advertisement
