Key Democrat Says Bush Panel’s Tax Overhaul Ideas Won’t Fly

The Senate’s top Democratic tax writer said Tuesday that a presidentially appointed panel’s recommendations for overhauling tax laws didn’t stand a chance in Congress.

“That’s dead, Mr. Secretary,” Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) told Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, who was before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss the president’s budget.

“We don’t accept that,” Snow replied.

“Congress thinks it’s dead,” Baucus said. “That’s going nowhere.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said later that it may be premature to declare a tax overhaul dead.

“The president has the greatest bully pulpit in the country. He can elevate an issue whenever he wants,” Grassley said.

President Bush last year asked nine experts to study the nation’s tax laws and recommend changes that would make them simpler, fairer and more economically efficient.

The President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform recommended last fall that lawmakers scrap most tax deductions and credits and replace them with simpler benefits.

Snow said the Treasury Department was studying the report and planned make its own recommendations.