No end to the politics
Back in 2000, when arguing with people leaning towards Bush 'cause he seemed more "likeable" (whatever that is), I tried to explain that it's not just Bush or Gore, it's all the political operatives they bring with them, the political appointees who influence policy, decide which rules are enforced, choose whose ideas get listened to. But historically, at least during the modern era of the Washington bureaucracy, the non-appointed civil service worker bees were generally allowed to do their jobs without overt political pressure. And the vast power of the government wasn't overtly used to help the incumbent. That's what enables continuity despite a change of leadership every four or eight years.
That has changed with Bush II and it's impossible to see what effect that will have on our government. The Bush administration and the GOP as a whole continue to inject politics into every action, every level of every department, as the WSJ reports today [subscription required].
WASHINGTON -- The Treasury tapped civil servants to calculate the cost of Sen. John Kerry's tax plan and then posted the analysis on the Treasury Web site. A federal law bars career government officials from working on political campaigns.
The Treasury analysis doesn't mention Mr. Kerry by name. Rather it sketches out the potential cost of a tax plan that rolls back tax reductions for taxpayers with incomes above $200,000 -- the nub of the Democratic presidential candidate's plan. The result, the Treasury said in the analysis posted March 22, would be a tax increase of as much as $477 billion over 10 years on "hardworking individuals and married couples." The same day, the Republican National Committee issued a press release in which it unveiled what it called its "John Kerry $pendometer," and cited the same $477 billion figure as the cost of "raising taxes on the top income bracket."
Scrutiny of government actions is always higher during election campaigns, and similar controversies involving Treasury tax estimators have occurred in recent administrations, both Republican and Democratic. Still the current incident could raise questions at a time when the Bush administration is already embroiled in controversy over whether it is improperly pressuring government officials.
John "Buck" Chapoton, who headed Treasury's tax office under Ronald Reagan, said career tax officials "are supposed to be objective. It's important that they are thought of as not being influenced or used for political purposes."
Eugene Steuerle, another Treasury tax official during the Reagan administration, said that using the analysis of the Kerry plan for political purposes "stepped over the line" that's supposed to protect career officials from political influence. "This type of release tends to reduce the reputation of the department as a fair and neutral arbiter of what constitutes good tax policy," Mr. Steuerle said. Messrs. Chapoton and Steuerle were Treasury political appointees during the Reagan years.
...
Former Clinton officials said that Treasury tax estimators analyzed tax proposals of Mr. Clinton's opponent Bob Dole and Vice President Al Gore's opponent George W. Bush. However, the former officials are adamant that those analyses weren't shared with political officials and weren't used in the campaign. The Treasury's office of tax analysis "shouldn't be used for purposes of a political campaign," said former Clinton Treasury official Les Samuels. "Where you cross the line is when you use the information for campaign purposes."
One reason, Mr. Samuels said, Clinton officials trod carefully is that the first Bush administration was accused of using tax estimators for political purposes. In 1992, Fred Goldberg, then the Bush Treasury's top tax official, stirred controversy when he told reporters that Treasury calculations showed that candidate Clinton's proposals could increase taxes for moderate-income Americans.
Many prominent politicians, reporters, and commentators were seriously audited by the IRS in the early 1970s. Later, many of these same people would find that they had been on Richard M. Nixon's "enemies list." But even Nixon had enough -- barely -- consideration for the propriety of the federal government to try to do these things secretly.
Not Bush/Cheney.
Dick Cheney's energy task force is a secret. But hijacking the federal government for political ends, they do that right out in the open.
That has changed with Bush II and it's impossible to see what effect that will have on our government. The Bush administration and the GOP as a whole continue to inject politics into every action, every level of every department, as the WSJ reports today [subscription required].
WASHINGTON -- The Treasury tapped civil servants to calculate the cost of Sen. John Kerry's tax plan and then posted the analysis on the Treasury Web site. A federal law bars career government officials from working on political campaigns.
The Treasury analysis doesn't mention Mr. Kerry by name. Rather it sketches out the potential cost of a tax plan that rolls back tax reductions for taxpayers with incomes above $200,000 -- the nub of the Democratic presidential candidate's plan. The result, the Treasury said in the analysis posted March 22, would be a tax increase of as much as $477 billion over 10 years on "hardworking individuals and married couples." The same day, the Republican National Committee issued a press release in which it unveiled what it called its "John Kerry $pendometer," and cited the same $477 billion figure as the cost of "raising taxes on the top income bracket."
Scrutiny of government actions is always higher during election campaigns, and similar controversies involving Treasury tax estimators have occurred in recent administrations, both Republican and Democratic. Still the current incident could raise questions at a time when the Bush administration is already embroiled in controversy over whether it is improperly pressuring government officials.
John "Buck" Chapoton, who headed Treasury's tax office under Ronald Reagan, said career tax officials "are supposed to be objective. It's important that they are thought of as not being influenced or used for political purposes."
Eugene Steuerle, another Treasury tax official during the Reagan administration, said that using the analysis of the Kerry plan for political purposes "stepped over the line" that's supposed to protect career officials from political influence. "This type of release tends to reduce the reputation of the department as a fair and neutral arbiter of what constitutes good tax policy," Mr. Steuerle said. Messrs. Chapoton and Steuerle were Treasury political appointees during the Reagan years.
...
Former Clinton officials said that Treasury tax estimators analyzed tax proposals of Mr. Clinton's opponent Bob Dole and Vice President Al Gore's opponent George W. Bush. However, the former officials are adamant that those analyses weren't shared with political officials and weren't used in the campaign. The Treasury's office of tax analysis "shouldn't be used for purposes of a political campaign," said former Clinton Treasury official Les Samuels. "Where you cross the line is when you use the information for campaign purposes."
One reason, Mr. Samuels said, Clinton officials trod carefully is that the first Bush administration was accused of using tax estimators for political purposes. In 1992, Fred Goldberg, then the Bush Treasury's top tax official, stirred controversy when he told reporters that Treasury calculations showed that candidate Clinton's proposals could increase taxes for moderate-income Americans.
Many prominent politicians, reporters, and commentators were seriously audited by the IRS in the early 1970s. Later, many of these same people would find that they had been on Richard M. Nixon's "enemies list." But even Nixon had enough -- barely -- consideration for the propriety of the federal government to try to do these things secretly.
Not Bush/Cheney.
Dick Cheney's energy task force is a secret. But hijacking the federal government for political ends, they do that right out in the open.
posted by John at 5:23 PM
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