Word: darman
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Thus Bush's reversal on taxes required delicate handling. By the beginning of 1990, many Administration officials openly acknowledged the need for taxes. These included Darman and Sununu, aides to each explained, though neither admitted it publicly. And Bush? No one is sure, but those closest to him suspect that the President accepted the need for a tax hike gradually, not at some specific moment. The real question was, When should the U turn take place? Wait until 1991 and the reversal could damage Bush's 1992 re-election campaign. Wait until late 1990 and it might overshadow the budget...
Then fate took a hand. In mid-June, the economy took a nose dive, dragging corporate profits and federal tax receipts down too. In mid-June Darman boosted his 1991 deficit estimate to $159 billion, up from $138 billion just a month before. Unless a plan for cutting almost $100 billion could be produced by Oct. 1, spending cuts required by Gramm-Rudman would force the layoff of thousands of government workers. Within days, Administration officials began to utter dire predictions. It was the perfect opportunity for a sudden conversion, and Bush took...
...Foley urged Bush to make a short statement that "tax increases" would be a part of any budget accord. When Bush asked Foley to suggest such a statement, one observer said, "a lot of jaws in that room dropped." Foley dictated a version off the top of his head. Darman said it would take only a few minutes to draft, and began writing. He showed the draft to Sununu, who passed it to Foley. After a few changes, Bush looked it over, called in press secretary Marlin Fitzwater, and told him to release...
...fact, Bush's conversion did little to bring the talks out of their coma. Darman thought that the deal might be struck by August. But the Democrats continued to procrastinate, giving away little, particularly on social programs. The Democratic stall obscured the best-kept dirty secret of the budget talks: House Republicans were no more willing than their opponents to support Darman's proposed cuts in health and retirement benefits and other ( federal entitlements. They bombarded Sununu's office with private pleas to protect special programs. They signed joint letters opposing cuts in pork- barrel programs. At one point, senior...
...attempt to jump-start the bargaining in late July, Darman proposed that both parties simultaneously put their offers on the table so that neither could gain a partisan advantage. But that notion fizzled. Two days before the so-called "immaculate conception" was due to take place, Senator Robert Packwood, a garrulous Oregon Republican, disclosed that Darman planned to eliminate income deductions for state and local taxes. Predictably, both Republican and Democratic Governors exploded, complaining that the idea would make it impossible to balance the budgets in their hard-pressed states. Democratic summiteers labeled the new tax a political maneuver. Within...