to raise your taxes, so will Reagan, but he won't tell you but I just did” (http://politicalwire.com). That one sentence led to Reagan’s rout of Mondale, carrying 49 states and the election (Birnbaum).Once Reagan resumed power in late 1984, his supply-side economists sprung into action. Treasury Secretary Donald Regan allowed only a few individuals into meetings to overhaul the system, fearing leaks to the press and Congress. However, shortly after the legislation began to take mold some of the actors began to disagree. They in turn leaked news to the press and Congress and the President had to stop the meetings. 1985 brought about new faces in the Treasury. James Baker took over as Secretary as Regan moved up to be the president’s Chief of Staff. Baker was a political animal and knew how to work the Washington bureaucrats much better than Regan, a Wall Street junkie. Baker and his associates were trying to create a tax overhaul that would raise revenue. Again, many of the players writing the new legislation were dipleased with the direction it was taking and the second treasury was defeated as well. President Reagan decided his one-sided approach was failing and decided to send the project to the house and start from scratch (Birnbaum).Morris 11As 1986 came closer, the Republicans, led by President Reagan, devised a simple layout of what would have to be included to pass the legislation. The following lists the major points the Republicans felt they needed to follow.Had to justify loophole closingPlease the supply-sidersCreate across-the-board tax cuts to carry enough DemocratsRevenue neutrality in order to keep the deficit the sameDistribution neutrality so each group holds equal amount of burdenDaniel “Rosty” Rostenkowski (D-IL) was Ways and Means Chairman at the time and therefore had jurisdiction concerning the tax structure. He was not a fan of new reform but the new political climate pus...
