Saturday, October 23, 2004
(1:14 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
A President Who is Proud of His Actions
Jesse sent me this article about how the president signed "the most sweeping overhaul of corporate tax law since 1986" on a Friday aboard Air Force One. The article notes that this behavior "stood in contrast with Bush's action on Oct. 4 when he sat before television cameras on a stage in Des Moines, Iowa, to sign three tax-cut breaks popular with middle-class voters and revive other tax incentives for businesses." My favorite part of the article, however, was this little two-paragraph gem:Could we possibly venture a guess as to which of these positions more closely approximates reality? Or have we done our journalistic duty when we report what "both sides" say? Or, even better, does this "method" reveal that the journalist doesn't want to patronize the American public and knows that in the age of the Internet, every citizen is fully capable of reading the legislation, gathering the relevant statistics, and coming to her own conclusions?
Though the legislation provides new tax breaks, Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation says it has no impact on the deficit because it also closes corporate tax loopholes and repeals export subsidies.
Opponents disagree, saying it will swell the nation's huge budget deficit with a massive giveaway that will reward multinational companies that move jobs overseas and add to the complexity of the tax system.
Jesse just remarked that "the article was harsh," and indeed it was -- but the harshness was entirely directed toward the presentation of the action, not to the actual substance of the tax cuts. Presentation is relevant -- after all, maybe his behavior indicates that the president has something to hide, but maybe it just indicates that he doesn't have time for a big honkin' ceremony every time he passes a tax bill. The facts would help us to decide on how relevant the presentation actually is. And I suppose with some Google searching, I could find the facts -- it would just be so much more convenient if they were included in the article.
