Senator John Kerry's tax plan slows economic activity until 2011,when it generally adopts President George Bush's approach ofpermanent tax cuts. Even so, the Bush plan consistently outperformsthe Kerry plan. President Bush relies on supply-side tax changeswhile Senator Kerry focuses much of his attention on demand-sidepolicy with targeted tax policy changes that yield the unintendedconsequence of producing a tax cut for high-income taxpayers after2011.
Public-private competition can lay the groundwork for changes inrevenue-estimating transparency practices, but Congress can set therules, and a Blue Ribbon Commission sponsored by a governmentagency, nonprofit group, or accounting or law firm might also beuseful. One thing is sure: Change in revenue-estimatingtransparency is needed at both the Treasury Department and theJoint Committee on Taxation.