NOT MARKING TIME:

Jobs? Oil? Iraq? On Second Thought, Let's Talk Taxes: President Bush's advisers say the president wants to make tax reform a cornerstone of his second term. (EDMUND L. ANDREWS, 8/15/04, NY Times)

[M]r. Bush's advisers said the president wants to make tax reform a cornerstone of his second term, and campaign officials see the potential to win over voters by pledging to fix a system that is widely seen as complex and unfair.

One thought is to change the system so that it focuses less on taxing what people earn and more on taxing what they spend. Even without a sales tax, this could be accomplished by letting people deduct money they put in savings and investments from their income, so they would owe taxes only on what was left - in other words, essentially on what they spent.

Administration officials are also looking for ways to flesh out the theme of promoting an "ownership society" - dusting off ideas to partially privatize Social Security and to provide more incentives for people to own homes or start businesses.

The political question is this: Would bold new proposals create more excitement among voters, or would they mire the campaign in debate that could detract from the goal of promoting Mr. Bush?

It is also unclear whether voters have much appetite for another big idea from the president.

So, let's see, after the spate of recent stories on the paucity of ideas in the President's re-election campaign, all he wants to do in a 2nd term is: privatize Social Security; radically reform the tax code; reform immigration; go to Mars; begin the transition to a hydrogen economy; liberalize trade; restructure the civil service; and democratize the Middle East? What would an ambitious agenda look like?

MORE:
Where Have All the Big Ideas Gone?: Some bold proposals--perfect for either party--could create genuine change. (Ted Halstead, August 15, 2004, LA Times)

Each era in American history is defined by a couple of big ideas: the Homestead Act, the GI Bill, Social Security, the Marshall Plan or the race to space. Such major social or economic innovations are usually advanced by our political leaders in response to national turning points. Few would disagree that the United States has reached another historical juncture. Where, then, have all the big — and good — ideas gone?

The paucity of innovative thinking is particularly evident in this presidential campaign.

Mr. Halstead goes on to make a series of sensible suggestions, nearly all of which echo President Bush.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 15, 2004 12:02 PM