010123.txt

            Conservatives ready
                    to push Bush tax 
                        cut plan 


                  By Melanie Fonder
                  For The News-Chronicle
                  WASHINGTON - Even before Saturday's inauguration,
                  work was under way in Congress toward launching
                  President Bush's agenda. At a breakfast Friday
                  morning, fiscally conservative House members outlined
                  suggestions for a strategy Bush could take with his
                  proposed tax cut. 

                  Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, was supportive of a large
                  package like Bush's, while Rep. Rob Simmons,
                  R-Conn., was more in favor of a piecemeal strategy
                  with tax cuts, a strategy also supported by Speaker J.
                  Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. 

                  Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Ohio, urged fiscal conservatives to
                  come up with their own package of tax cuts, to the
                  right of Bush's plan, to help temper public perception of
                  the plan. 

                  Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., agreed, saying Democrats
                  have had success on various proposals with the efforts
                  of their moderate members, like Sen. John Breaux,
                  D-La. 

                  "The perception game is very effective," Pence said.
                  "To my mind, I think we should make Bush look like a
                  moderate with a $1.6-trillion tax cut." 

                               PARTY HOPPING
                  Inauguration weekend was full of parties with and for
                  plenty of celebrating Wisconsinites. 

                  A reception for the Wisconsin delegation Thursday
                  night at the Les Aspin Center was attended by the
                  state's four Republican congressmen - Reps. Mark
                  Green, Ryan, F. James Sensenbrenner, and Tom Petri
                  - and by Gov. Tommy Thompson and his family. 

                  On Friday night, a gala for Thompson was held in Union
                  Station at B. Smith's restaurant. Spotted in the overflow
                  crowd: Green Bay Mayor Paul Jadin, Milwaukee
                  attorney Gerald Boyle and governor-in-waiting Scott
                  McCallum. 

                  At one of eight official inaugural balls Saturday night,
                  Wisconsin shared a stop by the new president, Vice
                  President Dick Cheney and their wives with 13 other
                  states and Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and
                  the Virgin Islands at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. 

                      THOMPSON CONFIRMATION EXPECTED
                  Thompson did not end up facing the expected harsh
                  questioning in front of a second panel on Friday as he
                  awaited likely confirmation as the new health and
                  human services secretary this week. 

                  Thompson did, however, say that he would initiate a
                  review of the safety of the controversial abortion pill
                  RU-486. 

                  The governor's second day of hearings - this time in
                  front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and
                  Pensions Committee - was not full of fireworks, but was
                  more contentious than his hearing Thursday in front of
                  the Finance Committee. 

                  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who sits on the
                  committee, asked Thompson flat-out if he would seek
                  to overturn the Food and Drug Administration's approval
                  of RU-486. 

                  In answering, Thompson first praised Clinton on her
                  eight years as first lady and now in her Senate role. 

                  "I do not intend to roll back anything, unless they are
                  unsafe," Thompson said. "I think my role is to review
                  the safety concerns for the women of the United
                  States." 

                  Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., also asked whether the
                  dismissal of FDA commissioner Jane Henney by Bush
                  was the beginning of a fight over the pill, but Thompson
                  said it was likely just the a part of the routine dismissal
                  of political appointees in a new administration. 

                  Several liberal women's groups who oppose
                  Thompson's pro-life position distributed opposition
                  press packets to reporters at the hearing, as did other
                  organizations challenging Thompson's record on
                  welfare reform in Wisconsin. 

                  Melanie Fonder, a former News-Chronicle reporter, is a
                  staff writer for the Hill, a weekly newspaper that covers
                  Capitol Hill. Her column appears here Mondays. Write
                  to her at melfonder@yahoo.com.