Showdown at Gucci Gulch

The efforts of Tax Reform took many years of struggles and changes to finally become law, the authors of Gucci Gulch found this triumph was possible due to the politicians being able to put aside party labels and shunning special interests in order to ultimately accomplish a meaningful goal for the American people. They also

It took several people to work towards this goal; it took the initial creator, Bradley, the President, Mr. Regan, Mr. Baker, and the several politicians who contributed to the right mixture of tax breaks and credits to make the bill possible. It wasn’t just thrown together without a lot of time, thought and consideration. It wasn’t finalized because people drank a few beers with each other. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was a difficult task to make into law, and should be noted as such. It was in the best interest of the American People, and to this day, 17 years later, many of the changes which were made at that time are still in effect. The time, effort, and intent of this Tax Reform should not be construed as a joke, a slip up, or a roll of the dice, but as a well thought out plan, hard work and dedication to benefit the American People.

The third chance event that led to the bills passing concentrates on the actions taken by Senator Packwood in the Senate. Ironically, the Republican-sponsored legislation had the most trouble in the Republican dominated Senate. Rostenkowski changed the politics of tax reform. If the plan failed in the Senate, it would leave the bragging advantage with the Democrats. But Republican Bob Packwood, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, understood this logic too. He was slow to support the bill, even noting that “I sort of like the tax code the way it is” (19). Nevertheless, it was an election year, and he did not wish to be seen as the man who stood in the way of his own President’s initiative. His way of moving the bill along was to try to meet the minimal demands of every committee member. It was a losing strategy and before long, the bill had been torn apart and most of the loopholes were reinstated. Over a few drinks with his top advisor, however Packwood decided to propose what they called the radical plan. It was a top rate of only 25 percent; a full 10 points lower than any previous plan. The main reason that Packwood rallied behind the tax reform in the first place was because he changed his mind over two pitchers of beer with his top aide. He felt compelled to support the President’s plan that even he did not fully understand.

Lastly, the one chance that Birnbaum and Murray claim is the crucial factor in the success of this legislation is that lobbyists failed to form coalitions in order to combat the tax reform. Richard Darman of the Treasury Department joked that if he were a lobbyist he would stand in the hallway “with a big sign saying: EVERYONE INTERESTED IN KILLING THIS BILL, PLEASE MEET IN THE NEXT CORRIDOR. There would have been an enormous rush and they would have seen the power of their collective action” (287). While the lack of interest group lobby presence was certainly a large factor, it was certainly not the only factor. It seems as though this particular piece of legislation passes as a result of different events independently occurring simultaneously. Each one paving the way for the next t

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