Last month, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan — who was instrumental in advancing the Bush tax cuts — called for allowing the entire package of cuts to expire, saying “they should follow the law and let them lapse.” Yesterday, Paul O’Neill, who was Treasury Secretary when the Bush tax cuts were enacted, seemed to follow suit. On CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria, O’Neill pointed out that “I was strongly opposed to the Bush tax cut that was enacted in 2003. It was one of the reasons I got fired.” He explained that he opposed the cuts because they were unaffordable, given the looming war with Iraq. When pushed by Zakaria about whether or not the cuts should expire, O’Neill said a full expiration is “okay,” while making the case that broader tax reform is really the issue:
I say let them — I don’t care, I honestly don’t care — but I do care whether the President takes the lead in saying ‘this is not the right issue, it’s off the table, they’re expired. You know, everybody is going to pay more in taxes.’ That’s okay…I don’t mind paying taxes.
Watch it:
O’Neill, however, came out against more stimulus funding — despite unemployment hovering at 9.5 percent and the economy creating a sluggish number of jobs — saying that an overhaul of the tax code would suffice to boost demand. As The Wonk Room explains, O’Neill’s stance contrasts starkly with that of Congressional Republicans, who seem to have no concern over the effect extending the cuts has on the deficit.