What really matters: spending, not deficits. (Forward Observer).

Here's a mystery: Why don't more Americans want a tax cut?

Congress did finally pass President Bush's tax-relief plan, but it was an intense struggle, and, in the end, the total reductions were cut in half. The plan offered something for almost everyone. For the poor (individuals making less than $14,000), it ended income taxes entirely. For families, it eliminated the marriage penalty, boosted child credits and cut rates. For investors and business-people, it lowered taxes on dividends and capital gains and vastly increased the capital-investment deduction. What's not to like?

One would expect that people prefer to hand over less money to the government--especially at a time of sluggish growth and rising unemployment. Yet, a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found that two out of three respondents approved of cutting the original Bush plan in half, and nearly a third wanted it killed altogether. Why are serious tax cuts so hard to pass? Two reasons stand out:

First, tax collections are now so wildly skewed toward high earners that many Americans pay little or nothing. The Tax Foundation reports that this year 36 million returns, representing 70 million people, will have a liability of zero for federal income taxes. The entire bottom half of earners pay only 4 percent of income taxes, and the average rate they pay is less than 5 percent of their income. So a quarter of all Americans are not affected in the slightest by taxes, and another fourth pay only tiny amounts.

Second, political hysteria over federal deficits has hoisted Republicans on their own petard. In their efforts to reduce the size of government over the last generation, the GOP disingenuously promoted the idea that deficit spending was down-right immoral, because it would increase interest rates and saddle our children with their parents' debts. Tactically, this approach worked. Even Democrats now use deficit talk--to oppose tax cuts, not cuts in spending.

Is there a way to frame the issue of tax cuts to avoid these two problems? I think so. ...