Refinancing America

Sheldon D. Pollack

Description

A fascinating account of the long history of antitax sentiments within the Republican party, Refinancing America looks at how opposition to income and wealth taxation became the dominant factor influencing the party's political agenda. The countless proposals for tax cuts introduced by Republicans in Congress during the 1990s, as well as the Bush administration's $1.6 trillion tax cut in May 2001, were not aberrations, but rather the continuation of a long tradition of hostility to taxation. Nevertheless, the rhetoric and devotion to the antitax cause in the 1990s was more pronounced than in the past, and this book explains how this more extreme strain of antitax politics came to dominate the GOP.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Origins of Republican Tax Policy

2. Forever a Minority Party?

3. Reagan Changes the Course

4. The Tax Deadlock Decade

5. Tax Policy in the Twenty-first Century

6. GOP Campaign to Kill the "Death Tax"

7. The Great Corporate Tax Giveaway

8. The Politics of the Surplus

Conclusion: The Prospects for U.S. Tax Policy

Appendix 1: Charts

Appendix 2: Tables

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Political economy
• Political party
• Central
• National

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791487549
• Langue: English

Extrait

Refinancing America

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Refinancing America

The Republican Antitax Agenda

Sheldon D. Pollack

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

 2003 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Pollack, Sheldon David. Refinancing America : the Republican antitax agenda / Sheldon D. Pollack. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–7914–5589–0 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0–7914 –5590– 4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Taxation—United States—History. 2. Income tax—United States—History. 3. Republican Party (U.S. : 1854 – ) 4. United States—Politics and government. I. Title.

HJ2381 .P65 2003 336.2′00973—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2002030593

For Patti L. Werther

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The Prospects for U.S. Tax Policy

The Great Corporate Tax Giveaway

211

205

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Preface

6

1

The Origins of Republican Tax Policy

GOP Campaign to Kill the “Death Tax”

1

9

Contents

Appendix 1: Charts

Appendix 2: Tables

199

267

227

xiii

137

107

Tax Policy in the Twentyfirst Century

2

Forever a Minority Party?

5

5

7

1

3

5

7

271

x

i

1

Index

vii

Conclusion:

Notes

Bibliography

Reagan Changes the Course

3

4

The Tax Deadlock Decade

8

7

159

169

The Politics of the Surplus

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Preface

The subject of this book is the Republican party’s longtime obsession with tax cuts. This obsession has been expressed in the countless proposals for tax cuts introduced by Republicans in Congress during past decades, as well as the successful campaign by the administration of President George W. Bush for a $1.35 trillion tax cut. Since the 1920s, regardless of whether the country is in recession or anticipating trilliondollar budget surpluses, Republicans have pre scribed tax cuts as the panacea for whatever ails the nation. My own obsession with federal tax policy began in 1986 when I left the quiet world of the academy and entered the tumultuous world of the legal profession to practice tax law. Ironically, that was the same year Congress decided to rewrite the tax code pursuant to the Tax Reform Act of 1986. It proved a difficult, yet fascinating time to enter the profession. With Congress making so much new law, tax professionals were thrown into a tizzy trying to keep up with the multitude of changes. The rest of the decade proved no less exhausting for tax professionals, as Congress kept up the pace, churning out massive tax bills every year or two and using the federal tax code to implement a wide range of public policies and social programs, as well as to achieve numerous political goals. This overtly political use of the tax laws has rendered the income tax a very compli cated body of law and turned the practice of tax law into an arduous enterprise. To be sure, practicing tax law has its benefits—most specifically, financial. In addition, there is some satisfaction to be had in deciphering the complicated problems that commonly arise under the tax laws. However, I soon found that the study of tax policy (as opposed to the practice of tax law) offered greater personal satisfaction, and so I eventually returned to the academy to pursue scholarly interests. Since then, thanks to the many opportunities and freedoms afforded by academic life, I have devoted much of my time to studying the politics and limitations of contemporary tax policymaking. This, along with teaching my students some of the basics of business and tax law, has provided a rewarding alternative to private legal practice. My studies ultimately culminated in the publication ofThe Failure of U.S. Tax Policy: Revenue and Politicsin October 1996. That book was a critical assess ment of the political process that produces the income tax laws of the United States, with special focus on developments in tax policy during the 1980s. With respect to the latter, the conclusion was that U.S. tax policy in the 1980s was

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