The Black Republican

The Wall Street Journal's editorial page comments on leaks coming out of the White House that suggest the President may scale back his tax-cut plans before they're even proposed.

Now, these leaks are coming out before Mr. Bush has made up his mind, and the President is probably the most ardent tax cutter in the White House. But we'd feel much better if his aides were at least making the right arguments instead of aping Democratic complaints in unattributed remarks to reporters. These leaks are a bad omen for the tough debate to come, and they represent an embarrassing start to the new Bush economic team of Stephen Friedman and his chief White House sponsor, Joshua Bolten.

In any case, compromising with yourself before even getting to Congress is idiotic. Mr. Bush will have to give Democrats something if he wants their votes, but the time to do that is when he cuts the final deal. If Mr. Bush takes the advice of his leakers, he may end up with a proposal that is both economically meaningless and politically feckless.

Sorry WSJ, but I have yet to see anything "leak" out of the White House during this Administration. Anything that comes out of that fortress unofficially has a politically planned purpose - just as it should be. And every time we've underestimated him, Bush has come back with a dirk right to the liberal brainstem. Let's wait to see how this plays before jumping to conclusions about Mr. Bush's devotion to conservatism.