Fred Lives!

There are a couple of news tidbits about Fred and his continued influence.

First, he apparently met with McCain a little over a week ago. According to OneNowNews on April 12th:

Bauer believes a John McCain-Fred Thompson GOP ticket would be a dynamic duo. He says McCain and Thompson's meeting over the weekend has only fueled speculation about whether the former Tennessee senator is on McCain's short list of possible vice-presidential running mates. Bauer, who supported Thompson in his short-lived presidential bid, says he is not sure the Law & Order star wants to get back into the political arena again.

I am not sure that a VP role should be in Fred's future. I could see Fred in a cabinet post (AG or something like that). I just don't know what Fred is thinking about the future.

The second item is McCain's economic plans as announced yesterday. A corporate tax rate drop; increasing the child tax exemption; make permanent the R&D tax credit; internet tax ban; one year freeze in discretionary spending; and the news maker stopping the gas tax through the summer. But The American Mind reports that there is another, less mentioned aspect of McCain plan:

The most surprising element of McCain’s plan is an optional simplified tax system. It would have “two tax rates and a generous standard deduction.”

Sound familiar? It should if you are a FredHead. That is Fred's proposal. Since McCain has admitted that he isn't strong on the economy, maybe he's taking notes from someone who is.

One side note. While I think the gas tax elimination for a period is good populist politics, it will not likely help with the price of gas. It will help a little, but not as much as the federal gas tax. Prices of the base product will increase to fill the void. The price being paid (including taxes) is a market price that controls our consumption to avoid shortages of gasoline. Good ole supply and demand. The other benefit of the tax cut is that it will starve the government of a bit more of our money.