A critical handful of Democrats will endorse the tax package agreed to yesterday. That represents a triumph of sorts for Mr. Bush's campaign for bipartisanship. But he had campaigned in several states with Democratic senators and failed to get them to buy into his bigger package. The size of the tax-cut package is only the first stage of the battle. In the second stage, Democrats and moderate Republicans in Congress need to make the tax cut less skewed in favor of the wealthy.
Lawmakers can begin by scaling back the proposed elimination of the estate tax.
On the income tax, the benefit should be distributed more to the middle class than to those at the top tax rates. While Democrats and Republicans have been tussling over the tax cut, a separate battle is being waged over spending increases for next year. The Senate budget resolution calls for an 8.4 percent increase. Given that the administration wants to ramp up defense, Congress needs to make sure that there is also enough money for other programs, from education to health care, law enforcement and the environment. The punitive budget cuts put forward by the White House earlier this year should not be allowed to stand.