The Guiliani Tax Strategy

Leading Republican 2008 Presidential candidate Rudy Guiliani set forth some of his tax code priorities--these include elimination of the inheritance tax, extending indefinitely the tax cuts of the first G. W. Bush term and making the child tax credit permanent. Additionally, Guiliani favors indexing for the alternative minimum tax and claims to have cut taxes more than 20 times as mayor--a claim which critics consider overstated.

The extension of the Bush cuts and attack on the death tax will at least placate economic conservatives who may have wondered how moderate would be. Personally, I would have preferred elimination of the AMT and on the inheritance tax I would prefer an increase in the unified credit (or equivalent) to an indexed $2-2.5 million without completely abolishing the tax.