Jewish World Review Nov. 18, 2004 / 5 Kislev, 5765
Dick Morris
Thoughts on a second term
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Some second-term ideas for the triumphant Bush administration:
• Filibusters and judicial nominations. Beware
of what happened to FDR in 1937 when, fresh from the most resounding
reelection victory since the early days of the Republic, he became
filled with hubris and proposed to pack the Supreme Court.
Despite overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress, the public
backlash not only killed the plan but doomed his entire second-term
agenda to disaster and defeat. The imperial overreach of FDR’s
second term is well-explained by Kenneth Davis in his book Into
the Storm.
This election was not won over abortion. It was won over the war on
terror primarily and gay marriage secondarily. If the right attempts
to twist its meaning to suit its purposes and use it to defang the
checks-and-balances system, it will be guilty of its own form of imperial
overreach. A three-percentage-point win will not sustain such an overturning
of the system on which people of both parties rely to assure moderation.
After giving no hint of so radical a step during the campaign —
indeed after keeping it well-hidden — for President Bush to
spring it now would be seen as an act of treachery by the many pro-choice
voters who backed him because of his international leadership, confident
that the filibuster would prevent him from going to extremes in his
appointments.
Filibusters, obnoxious as they are to democracy, have acquired an
accepted place in our democracy. Just as senators no longer feel obliged
to vote against cloture, as they once did out of courtesy to one another,
so the public no longer feels that the necessity to attract 60 votes
for judicial nominations is too onerous.
If Bush jams through a ban on filibusters on nominations and then
jams through Clarence Thomas as chief justice (by itself this would
be OK) and then pushes a Thomas or Antonin Scalia clone for the open
spot on the court, he will squander a huge segment of the political
capital on which he is relying for more important tasks ahead.
• Social Security. What Bush really wants is
to make private investment of a portion of Social Security taxes possible
for those who want to do it. What he must also do is reform the benefit
structure to prolong the life of the trust fund.
He would have to cut benefits whether or not he proposed private investment,
but Democrats will claim that he is cutting them to allow private
investment. That won’t be true, but it is how the Democrats
will play it.
To counter that move and to make the package politically acceptable,
Bush must somehow finesse the necessity to raise the retirement age
— the key to any reform of the system.
Here’s my idea: Index the retirement age to life expectancy.
In effect, say that “we will assure you an average of 20 years
of paid retirement — more if you live longer, less if you don’t.”
But as you live longer and remain healthy longer and aging is postponed,
you can’t just expect a longer and longer paid retirement. Ultimately,
the math of such an indexing will save a lot more money than a legislated
three-year, one-time increase in the retirement age.
Since 1900, life expectancy has risen by about 45 years. So, by 2030,
it will probably be in the 90s and the retirement age, under an indexing,
would likely be in the mid 70s, saving enough money to preserve the
system and allow for the experimentation with private investment.
• Flat tax. From Stephen Moore, head of the
Club for Growth, comes a wonderful idea. Moore suggests adopting the
flat tax on a voluntary basis, i.e., allowing taxpayers to enumerate
their deductions and pay a higher rate or to file a flat tax at a
lower rate.
Even high-bracket taxpayers will probably opt for the short form and
the flat tax, but those who covet their mortgage deductions et al.
will be able to indulge themselves and their accountants until their
hearts are content.
This move will disempower the lobbyists who will fight the flat tax,
since it will not repeal any deductions but just make another way
of paying taxes possible.
Everybody knows Bush would rather die than raise taxes, so people
will trust him to make the package at least revenue-neutral.
And the Moore idea could remedy the political defects that undermined
the flat tax when it was proposed in the ’90s.
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JWR contributor Dick Morris is the author of, most recently, "Rewriting History", a rebuttal of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) memoir, Living History. (ClickHERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) Comment by clicking here.
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