Writing for WaPo, E.J. Dionne, Jr. (who speaks from the Democrat perspective) has some interesting comments on Alan Greenspan apropo tax cuts:
Leave it to Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan to stir the political pot. Theoretically above politics, Greenspan has more influence on the political class than almost any human being, presidents — perhaps — excepted. This week Greenspan did something no Democrat could do: He made Social Security an issue in the 2004 election.
Greenspan hit the front pages and the evening news broadcasts by speaking the unspeakable: Sustaining the tax cuts that President Bush has pushed through will require cuts in Social Security and other entitlement programs.
Democrats who put Social Security on the table are accused of playing politics. No one can accuse Greenspan of being a partisan Democrat. On the contrary, the Fed chairman’s worldview was influenced by the radical libertarian Ayn Rand. And his comments early in Bush’s term helped push the president’s tax cuts through. On Wednesday he told the House Budget Committee that he likes the idea of making them permanent.
Unlike most supporters of the tax cuts, however, Greenspan is willing to be honest about the high price that must be paid to save them. Making loud noises about nickel-and-dime cuts in small domestic programs is not a fiscal policy. Big tax cuts mean big cuts in programs everybody likes.
See the full article for further analysis.