Newt!, by Dick Williams: on Tax Reform

George Bush Sr.: "Read My Lips" did not promise to cut taxes

The contentious young Turks in the House were focusing on domestic policy and social issues. They wanted a capital gains tax cut, enterprise zones for cities, and tax fairness for families. Bush may have promised not to raise taxes, but he had not promised to cut them.

In White House Daze, Charles Kolb was rougher. He spoke for most Conservatives when he wrote: "With this one assertion [violating the no-tax pledge], Bush squandered not only his capital but also his credibility. Democrats now knew for a certainty that he would compromise with them on even his most fundamental 'beliefs.'" It was a blow to the middle class, many of them Reagan Democrats that would doom the Bush presidency. Public cynicism would skyrocket and voter participation would decline.