TWhat is Jack Kemp going to do with the commission on tax reform he’s chairing? The commission, assembled in the spring to help unify the Republican message on taxes, holds its last session in December, and there’s no consensus on what to recommend. But Kemp wants to deliver a full-fledged, comprehensive reform plan when the commission issues its report to Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich in January.
This concerns Dole. We hear that Dole campaign manager Scott Reed, a former Kemp aide who helped bring the commission to life, sent Kemp a memo outlining a three-step approach. First, indict the current tax system and develop public animosity toward it. Second, issue general principles for tax reform. Third, promulgate a specific plan.
Dole aides fear Kemp will jump directly to step 3, skipping 1 and 2. And Dole fears this would give his primary opponents chances to attack him for, say, wanting “to take away the home mortgage deduction.” If that happens, don’t expect Kemp to be Treasury secretary in the Dole administration.
