I have a hard time believing that President Obama is going to do something crazy like endorse the FairTax, but the White House keeps talking about how it is interested in simplifying the tax system.
"There's no specific policy detail, except the President has talked about this repeatedly," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who did his best to endorse reform at the Wednesday briefing, but yet not support any single proposal.
"It oughta be more simple for millions of Americans," Gibbs said.
The White House has already set up a panel to review the options on tax reform, led by former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker.
Gibbs acknowledged that adding tax reform to an already jammed-packed agenda might not make sense to some, but he said the White House is committed to doing something about the issue.
Of course, one man's reform is another person's major mistake, so we'll wait to see what kind of details Team Obama comes up with late in the year.
While the leadership of both parties have routinely shied away from tax reform for over twenty years now, it still seems to me to be an issue that carries a lot of weight with the voters.
Especially if you want to be a reformer.
Right now, the bill with the most support in the Congress isn't the FairTax, but it is a measure that would simply abolish the IRS and force the Congress to come up with something new.
If this White House decides to act on tax reform in 2010, it could be a potent weapon going into next year's mid term elections.
You almost have to ask yourself if you are the Dems - why not swing for the fences and go for the gusto with a flat or sales tax?
It certainly would keep the other side off balance.
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