President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform

President Names Senators Mack and Breaux on Federal Tax Reform Panel

Personnel Announcement January 7, 2005

President George W. Bush today signed the Executive Order establishing the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. The bipartisan panel will advise the Secretary of the Treasury on options to reform the tax code to make it simpler, fairer, and more pro-growth.

The President intends to appoint this distinguished group of experts to the Panel:

Connie Mack III (Chairman), Senior Advisor, Shaw Pittman LLP and former U.S. Senator. Senator Mack served as Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and was a member of the Finance and Banking committees.

John Breaux (Vice-Chairman), former U.S. Senator. Senator Breaux served on the Finance Committee and the sub-committee on Taxation and IRS Oversight.

William Eldridge Frenzel, former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Frenzel served on the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Frenzel is a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution.

Elizabeth Garrett, Professor of Law, University of Southern California. Ms. Garrett served as Legislative Director and Tax and Budget Counsel to former U.S. Senator David L. Boren.

Edward P. Lazear, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution and Professor of Human Resources, Management and Economics, Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. Mr. Lazear is the founding editor of the Journal of Labor Economics.

Timothy J. Muris, Foundation Professor, George Mason School of Law and Of Counsel, O'Melveny & Myers LLP. Mr. Muris served as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission from 2001 to 2004.

James Michael Poterba, Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Poterba serves as Associate Department Head. He has taught at MIT since 1982.

Charles O. Rossotti, Senior Advisor, The Carlyle Group. Mr. Rossotti served from 1997 to 2002 as Commissioner of Internal Revenue. He formerly served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of American Management Systems.

Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist, Charles Schwab. Ms. Sonders joined U.S. Trust, a division of Charles Schwab, in 1999 as a Managing Director and member of its Investment Policy Committees. # # #

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary January 7, 2005

Executive Order President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to assist in reforming the Federal Internal Revenue Code to benefit all Americans, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Establishment. There is established the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform (Advisory Panel).

Sec. 2. Membership. (a) The Advisory Panel shall be composed of up to nine members appointed by the President.

(b) The President shall designate one member of the Advisory Panel to serve as Chair and one member to serve as Vice Chair.

Sec. 3. Purpose. The purpose of the Advisory Panel shall be to submit to the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with this order a report with revenue neutral policy options for reforming the Federal Internal Revenue Code. These options should:

(a) simplify Federal tax laws to reduce the costs and administrative burdens of compliance with such laws;

(b) share the burdens and benefits of the Federal tax structure in an appropriately progressive manner while recognizing the importance of homeownership and charity in American society; and

(c) promote long-run economic growth and job creation, and better encourage work effort, saving, and investment, so as to strengthen the competitiveness of the United States in the global marketplace. At least one option submitted by the Advisory Panel should use the Federal income tax as the base for its recommended reforms.

Sec. 4. Administration. (a) The Department of the Treasury shall provide, to the extent permitted by law, administrative support and funding for the Advisory Panel. The Advisory Panel is established within the Department of the Treasury for administrative purposes only.

(b) The Chair of the Advisory Panel shall convene and preside at the meetings of the Advisory Panel, determine its agenda after consultation with the Vice Chair, and direct its work. The Advisory Panel shall have a staff headed by an Executive Director who shall be selected by the President and report to the Chair.

(c) Members of the Advisory Panel shall serve without compensation for their work on the Advisory Panel. Members of the Advisory Panel who are not officers or employees in the executive branch, while engaged in the work of the Advisory Panel, may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701 through 5707), consistent with the availability of funds.

(d) Consistent with applicable law, heads of executive departments and agencies shall provide to the Advisory Panel such assistance, including assignment or detail of personnel, and information as may be necessary for the Advisory Panel to perform its functions.

(e) The Advisory Panel may conduct meetings in appropriate locations throughout the United States to obtain information and advice from Americans of diverse backgrounds and experience and from a diverse range of American entities, including large and small for-profit and non-profit organizations, State, local, and tribal governments, and from other individuals and entities as appropriate. Public hearings shall be held at the call of the Chair.

(f) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.) (the "Act"), may apply to the Advisory Panel, any functions of the President under that Act, except for those in section 6 of that Act, shall be performed by the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with the guidelines that have been issued by the Administrator of General Services.

Sec. 5. Report. The Advisory Panel shall submit to the Secretary of the Treasury a report containing policy options in accordance with section 3 of this order as soon as practicable, but not later than July 31, 2005.

Sec. 6. Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees or agents, or any other person.

Sec. 7. Termination. The Advisory Panel shall terminate 30 days after submitting its report pursuant to section 5 of this order.

GEORGE W. BUSH THE WHITE HOUSE, January 7, 2005. # # #
For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary January 7, 2005

Chris Matthews Nicolle Devenish Hardball

MSNBC Transcripts Hardball with Chris Matthews for Oct. 5 Read the transcript to the 10:30 p.m. ET Show Updated: 1:22 p.m. ET Oct. 6, 2004 Guest: Nicolle Devenish,

Let‘s go right now to the Chris Jansing, who is in the so-called spin room. I don‘t know how you can spin when you walk in a room called the spin room. It‘s too obvious.

She‘s with Bush-Cheney campaign communications director Nicolle Devenish—Chris.

CHRIS JANSING, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we used to call it the so-called spin room, Chris. But we don‘t even pretend that anymore. This is the spin.

But let‘s talk to Nicolle.

It‘s great to see you. Thanks for coming by.

NICOLLE DEVENISH, BUSH-CHENEY ‘04 COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Any time.

JANSING: The conventional wisdom was that the vice president had to stop—some of the polls, which show that the president lost the first debate in Miami. John Kerry was gaining ground on the Republicans. Did Dick Cheney do that tonight?

DEVENISH: Well, I disagree with part of the premise, but I think that the Democrats are wandering around behind me dazed and confused. This was a decisive victory for Dick Cheney. I think this was where the rubber met the road.

I think this is where John Edwards got first client that he couldn‘t defend. And that record that the vice president had down cold, he was able to really impeach the credibility of every political attack John Edwards launched tonight.

JANSING: Well, let‘s talk about some of the specific attacks.

First, the war on Iraq, did he really make the case that this is part of the war on terror, because that Democrats have said very clearly and some of the American people are having trouble buying the fact that we went to Iraq has made us safer.

DEVENISH: Well, I think the Democrats are so desperate now. They have convoluted their own position so much.

And, look, two questions that John Edwards wasn‘t able to answer tonight. He wasn‘t able to answer Gwen‘s very appropriate and very legitimate question about what exactly the global test was. The second was an inability to articulate whether, 27 days before Election Day, he thinks and Kerry thinks that the invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein made us safer. Our record is clear. We do believe that.

Americans understand that our country is safer here and American cities are safer with Saddam Hussein out of power.

JANSING: What about the accusation that this administration is not being straight with the American people? There have been so many questions raised now about what‘s going on in Iraq. Can this administration continue to defend the progress that‘s being made?

DEVENISH: Well, look, I think that what the Kerry-Edwards ticket would like you to believe is that optimism and truth-telling can‘t coexist.

But we see plenty of debate within the administration. And we talk these policies through. But what wasn‘t truthful, what was the most dishonest thing we saw tonight was that John Edwards tackled with lies and political attacks and Dick Cheney was able to block those tackles with facts and substance.

JANSING: Well, let‘s talk about some of the facts: 45 million Americans without health care. We are standing in the city with the highest poverty rate. Do you think Dick Cheney really made the argument to a Clevelander who has lost his manufacturing job that the way to get more jobs is to be more business friendly?

DEVENISH: Well, I think he did.

And here‘s something else. We are in Ohio. We‘re in a crisis state for medical malpractice. And John Edwards, this was one fact that you would think he would have straight. He did not have his facts straight when he talked about the real savings and the real economic impact of an out-of-control and broken-down medical liability system. So I think people in Ohio will be most disturbed by the distortions that came out of John Edwards tonight.

This is a state that knows, that lives with the results of a broken medical liability system, and John Edwards just gave them spin and political attacks.

JANSING: Nicolle Devenish, communications director for Bush-Cheney ‘04, thanks very much—Chris, back to you.

MATTHEWS: Thank you, Chris Jansing.

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