NBC News' Meet the Press

Author: Tim Russert and Senator Trent Lott

Published: November 10, 2002

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MR. RUSSERT: That?s all right. Let me turn to the new agenda for next year. Tax cuts. This was a report from the Tax Policy Center about the president?s current tax cut, and let me read it to you. ?By the end of the decade, when the tax cuts pushed into law by the Bush administration in 2001 become fully effective, 85 percent of taxpayers with two or more children will be forced off the regular income tax and onto a separate system known as the alternative minimum tax. The additional burden will fall largely on families with incomes of $75,000 to $500,000. ...if nothing is changed, by 2010 about 36 million taxpayers will face it. Indeed, virtually all taxpayers earning $100,000 to $500,000 will fall under its sway.? Will you try to change that to make sure those taxpayers don?t get this new tax, in effect, the alternative minimum tax?

SEN. LOTT: Yes. And a lot of other things, too, Tim. While the economic statical numbers that you refer to show a picture?and there are some new ones that show the economy may be improving?there?s clearly some sectors of the economy, some things in the tax code that we could do that would encourage growth, that would make the tax code fairer. You know, until we have a complete overhaul, it?s going to be a continuing effort to make sure that we have the right incentives for savings and investments and that the tax code is fairer for working families and families with children. And so I do believe that in our budget bill next year, and the tax provisions that come out of it, we will have an opportunity to further address some of the inequities, some of the things that discourage people, that are unfair to those that have lost a lot of money, for instance, because of the economic downturn over the last year. I don?t want to write a tax bill here, but clearly we?re going to need to address that again.

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