Keep Byrd quiet for a little bit. The greatest news in the world is the series of proposals that have streamed forth from the White House in the last few days. Were these campaign promises he was "mandated" to act upon?
So the next two years are to be filled with pushes for constitutional amendments for the line-item veto and guest worker / legalized illegal immigrant programs?> Plus confirmation hearings where we get to see Gonzales' torture recommendation memos!! Plus Alaskan republicans joining us to fight against drilling? I am starting to feel better already. He's swinging their "big tent" back and forth violently. I don't seriously see any pure tax-cut debates at this point, although we may see a vote to extend the previous tax cuts out a few more years.
More likely, it seems, will be some sort of flat-tax, or sales-tax proposal. My guess is they'll call it "revenue neutral". That of course doesn't count the drag on the economy it would cause. By my calculation we have 45 + Specter, McCain, Chafee + any senator with presidential aspirations, which = it ain't happening! The economy is too shaky right now to push a regressive tax bill. You want to take away the income tax deduction for home ownership away? That'll help the one industry that boomed through the recession. Even Snow has to know that the social engineering built into the current tax structure cannot be completely undone without severe and lasting consequences.