Word: darman
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White House chief of staff John Sununu has been trying to avenge that hardball act. He had planned to have Bush go on the offensive, blaming / Democrats for the breakdown. But that plan was shelved as inappropriate after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Not until Budget Director Richard Darman and Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady were out of town three weeks ago did Sununu get his way. He persuaded the President to interrupt his vacation -- and his direction of the U.S. response to Saddam's aggression -- to blast the Democrats for the impasse. That awkwardly timed sally appeared to embarrass Bush. He concluded...
...Bush and Darman believe they have already said too much about taxes without getting anything in return -- and aides point to the President's slipping approval ratings to prove it. In fact, the Administration's inept handling of its plan to cut back state and local income tax deductions two weeks ago sped the talks' collapse. At one point, both sides were close to pulling off what Darman calls "a no fingerprints" budget, in which each party simultaneously put forth complete budget plans. By doing so, says one aide, "no party could take advantage of the other." But the immaculate...
Scrambling to control the damage, Administration officials tried to mask that miscalculation by claiming that the Democrats had reneged on the bargain. But Gephardt told Bush at a White House meeting Tuesday that not only had there never been a deal but that Darman had not presented a full proposal either. As Panetta said later, "We did not pledge that every time the Republicans slit their wrists we would slit ours...
...breakdown in talks left Bush exactly where he did not want to be: severed from his "no-new-taxes" pledge with nothing to show for it. Darman calculated months ago that Bush could survive the political hit for his U-turn on taxes if in return he solved the deficit problem. As an Administration official admitted, "We got suckered. Now we're in the same place we were three months ago except we've taken a 10-point hit in the polls...
...Richard Darman Bush's Budget Director usually tries to trip up congressional Democrats, but last week he slipped and fell on the steps of a McDonald's. It took 100 stitches to repair injuries to his head and face...