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Keep it simple, taxpayers tell Mack

The former senator who chairs the reform committee says, "Everything's on the table."

By HELEN HUNTLEY
Published February 6, 2005

Connie Mack's popularity quotient soared when President Bush named him the chairman of a nine-member committee to study tax reform. The former U.S. senator from Florida says people are stopping him on the street in Washington and sending packages to his home.

"So far the overwhelming message from people across the board is "you've got to do something to simplify this,' " he said. "People who 10 years ago wouldn't have hired someone to do their tax work are now doing so. People say it's too complicated."

Mack said "everything's on the table," but the marching orders from the president include some specific goals. Any new tax system is supposed to be simpler, progressive and revenue neutral, raising the same amount of taxes as the current system. It's also supposed to promote long-run economic growth, improve U.S. competitiveness and recognize the importance of charitable giving and home ownership. However, Treasury Secretary John Snow has said even those hallowed deductions could be on the chopping block.

The committee has until the end of July to recommend to Snow a set of alternatives, at least one of which is supposed to be a revised version of the current system. Snow then will make recommendations to Bush, who will decide what to present to Congress.

"We will consider all the major reform proposals that have been made in the past," Mack said. "As we discover there are other areas we ought to look at, we'll do so."

He said the committee will hold hearings and will have a Web site to communicate with the public. Mack said the short time frame is reasonable since a lot of research has been done on alternative tax systems, but "I'm already in a sense kind of anxious because we've got to get organized."

The panel has hired an executive director, Jeff Kupfer, and will hire several staff members in addition to relying on the Treasury Department for administrative support.

Vice chairman of the committee is John Breaux, former U.S. senator from Louisiana. Other committee members are James Poterba, economics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Bill Frenzel, guest scholar at Brookings Institution and former congressman from Minnesota; Edward Lazear, economics professor at Stanford University; Timothy Muris, law professor at George Mason University and former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission; Elizabeth Garrett, law professor at University of Southern California; Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab Corp.; and Charles Rossotti, senior adviser at Carlyle Group and former IRS commissioner.

[Last modified February 6, 2005, 00:21:17]