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Forbes tax attack rolls on
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March 24, 1998: 10:10 a.m. ET
'Tax code terminator' sees sweeping IRS changes in the next few years
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Just weeks before the April 15th tax- return deadline, a deadline almost 60 percent of Americans still are trying to make, Steve Forbes has launched what he calls his "tax code termination tour." Although he hasn't announced his candidacy for the presidential nomination, Forbes joined CNNfn anchor Lou Dobbs to share a few of his thoughts about tax code reform and the economy in general.
Here is a partial transcript of his "Moneyline" comments.
LOU DOBBS, CNNfn ANCHOR: Well, you're out there campaigning, stumping on tax reform. Are you going to have substantive changes to report in the taxation system in this country soon?
STEVE FORBES, PRESIDENT & CEO, FORBES INC.: I think the bill now before Congress proposed by Steve Largent (R-Okla.) to junk the code by a certain date is the vehicle of the moment, and the fact that the president denounced it vociferously a couple of weeks ago shows that it is gaining real support. The president's come out in favor of the IRS as we know it, but I think Congress is going to eventually vote to change IRS to RIP.
DOBBS: [laughter] Larry Summers, deputy secretary of the Treasury, came out [on Monday] with a rather long list of reforms that the administration is making in the IRS. What is this battle really about? (I ask) because the administration -- principally Secretary Rubin --- had been reluctant, at least initially, to advance any changes in the IRS, but now the administration seems to be trying to gain some momentum in that process.
FORBES: Well, they're still behind the curve on it. They didn't realize how abusive the IRS had become. When that came out in those Senate hearings, they were very slow to react to it. And [administration] reforms are mostly cosmetic. The IRS that we have today is a symptom of a corrupt, complex tax code, and until you change that, you're going to have a problem with the IRS.
DOBBS: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer (R-Tex.) told me back in 1995 that '97 would be the year of substantive tax reform. It's 1998. In what year, in your opinion, will we see substantive tax reform?
FORBES: I think it's going to come at the turn of the century, which is only two or three years away, and I think part of the push is going to be the problem with the year 2000 on computers. The IRS is not ready for it and each year Washington junks up the Code, which breeds more and more support for change. So I think in the next four years you are going to see a real change.
DOBBS: In this [vein], you have not announced your candidacy for president. I suspect strongly that you won't do so here tonight, but I will give you that opportunity. Would you like to do that here tonight, Steve?
FORBES: Well, if I make a decision, I'll be sure to let you be the first to know -- and if I do run, you'll be on my short list for vice president.
DOBBS: Bless you, Steve.
FORBES: How's that for pandering?
DOBBS: It's actually appreciated. The fact is that any Republican candidate running against any Democratic candidate in 2000 is going to have uphill work if this economy remains this strong. What's your judgment on the state of the economy? Could you give us your best forecast?
FORBES: Well, the economy is going to slow down a bit. The Federal Reserve has been inadvertently tight, but in terms of running in an election, you don't let others define the terms of debate. You define the agenda. The tax code is an abomination. We know Social Security needs reform. We know there's health-care reform that's needed, school reform that's needed. You define those major changes that are needed and you can turn the thing around.
DOBBS: Campaign finance reform?
FORBES: Well, they should go in the opposite direction there, with more and more Federal regulation by removing caps and having prompt and full disclosure each day on the Internet. Every campaign should post who's given how much money to the campaign that day. Let the people judge if you've sold your soul to a special interest or a group of individuals. 
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