US Treasury Secretary Mr Paul O'Neill, paying his first visit to Wall Street yesterday, is letting it be known he is furious about how the new Republican administration is being portrayed in the media as greedy robber barons out to line their pockets.
But embarrassingly for Mr O'Neill, the Wall Street Journal chose yesterday to publish details of just how many millions of dollars the new Treasury boss, along with President Bush, Vice-President Mr Dick Cheney and 13 other cabinet members, stand to gain for their families under the Bush plan to repeal estate taxes.
The President launched his tax proposals on Monday and since then has been orchestrating an intensive public relations campaign to gain the support of the US middle class.
Yesterday he played host in the White House to a reunion of "tax families" that he used as props for his tax cut proposals during the election campaign. They included blue collar workers and single mothers, but no representatives of corporate America.
A family of four would get on average $1,600 (€1,716), said Mr Bush, and a couple like Mr Ken Ashford, a water analyst of Granada Hills, California and his wife Sharon who looks after their three children, would benefit by $3,389.
This is in stark contrast to the windfall in store for the President and his team. If Mr Bush gets his way and the top rate of tax is dropped from 39.6 to 33 per cent, he and his wife Laura will benefit by $20,000 to $60,000 on their 1999 tax returns, according to tax experts employed by the Wall Street Journal. The President's heirs will save between $6 million and $12 million by the repeal of the estate tax, which imposes a levy as high as 55 per cent.
Mr O'Neill, who made $59 million in salary and stock options last year as chairman of the Alcoa aluminum conglomerate and whose assets are listed at between $68 and $103 million, was reported yesterday as saying: "I really think it's corrosive to have this argument about the rich and the poor. It's not worthy of where we are in our development as a country."
The Treasury Secretary gave the impression at his January 17th confirmation that he was not fully committed to Mr Bush's tax plan, and played down the value of tax cuts as a potent fiscal stimulus. He has insisted since then that he is on board as a long-time supporter of cuts in individual rates. "Wait until you see my colours in the battle, and you won't have any doubt," he said. Mr Donald Rumsfeld is the wealthiest member of the Bush team, with assets estimated at between $61 and $242 million, according to financial disclosure forms. Mr O'Neill comes next, with assets ranging from $63 million to $103 millions. Secretary of State Gen Colin Powell is worth between $20 million and $69 million. The President's assets, including his Texas ranch, are put at between $11 million and $22 million. Senate Majority leader Mr Thomas Daschle said that the debate on taxes must take account of the fact that the richest 1 per cent of households have seen their income double over the past two decades while those in the bottom 2 per cent have seen their incomes decline.
He ridiculed the Bush tax plan as one which offered the rich a new Lexus while giving working families enough to buy a new silencer for the used car.
Mr O'Neill told the Washington Post that he did not believe "this society should be operating with a robber baron premise as the basis for how we discuss public policy".
