Mack, Breaux Are Leading Choices to Head Bush's Tax Panel

NEW YORK -- Former U.S. Senators Connie Mack and John Breaux are the leading candidates to head President Bush's panel to recommend changes to the tax code, according to a White House official and other Republicans familiar with the selection process, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

Mack, a 64-year-old Republican from Florida, left the Senate in 2000 after two terms and is now a senior policy adviser at the Washington-based law firm of Shaw Pittman LLP. Breaux, 60, a three- term Democrat from Louisiana, retired from Congress this month. As lawmakers, both supported tax cuts.

Setting up the panel will be Bush's first step toward satisfying his campaign pledge to streamline the 3,000-page tax code, which he says is too complex and discourages savings. The panel may examine options include closing loopholes and adjusting income tax rates in the current tax code, or a more radical shift to flat-rate, national sales or value-added tax systems that focus on consumption rather than income.

The White House is still researching the backgrounds of Mack and Breaux along with other business leaders, politicians and economists who will join the nine-member committee, said the people familiar with the selection process, who spoke on condition they not be named. The rules of the panel will state that members can't represent companies that have tax matters before the Congress or Internal Revenue Service, they said.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 1/4/05