8/28/00 3:40 p.m.
Lazio's Plan
Rick Lazio's tax plan borrows shrewdly from John McCain and Patrick Moynihan.

By NR's John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru

ome Republicans have been worried that Rick Lazio would not be running an issue-based campaign this fall. Their fear was that while not being Hillary Clinton might get him 49 percent of the vote, he would need something more to get to 51 percent. By coming out with a smart, detailed tax-cut plan, Lazio has put that fear to rest. (See Joel Rosenberg's comment on NR's website for details.)

The plan is in some respects reminiscent of the one John McCain advanced during the primaries: It is smaller than George W. Bush's, but it offers more to the new investor class. Lazio would cut capital-gains tax rates and expand IRA contribution limits. He would also, like Bush, abolish the estate tax.

Lazio borrows as well from the man he seeks to replace. Daniel Patrick Moynihan advocated a reduction in the payroll tax during the Bush administration; Lazio calls for making the tax deductible against income taxes. And Moynihan has often called attention to the lousy return New Yorkers get on their taxes: The state receives 85 cents in federal spending for every dollar it sends to Washington. Moynihan always made this point when lobbying for more spending in New York. But there's no reason it can't be part of a case for cutting New Yorkers' taxes.

Draper Caper
As California's Tim Draper prepares to blow $20 million trying to pass Proposition 38 — an ambitious school-choice ballot initiative that already looks doomed in the polls — the top story in today's Washington Post reveals why the school-choice movement may reap more rewards by taking an incremental approach.

"Scores Improve for D.C. Pupils With Vouchers," says the headline in the upper-right-hand corner of the front page, and the gist is that black kids who were able to enroll in private schools through a privately-funded voucher program are scoring 6 points higher on math and reading tests than their public-school peers. In the District of Columbia, the gap was 9 points.

That's splendid news for the 1,470 kids who were the subjects of the study. Imagine how far Draper's $20 million would go if he plunked it down in East Palo Alto for "Draper Scholars."

For the school-choice movement, however, the rewards are even greater: an excellent headline and an outstanding story on some of the choicest real estate in the political news industry. In addition to plain philanthropy, a chief rationale behind school-choice programs paid for by the private sector is that they would highlight the benefits of school choice for a skeptical news media. If influential reporters at the Washington Post, New York Times, and other newspapers write stories showing the positive effects school choice can have on low-income students, the movement will grow in size and strength. Maybe some teetering Democrat representing a district full of poor parents who want to send their kids to parochial schools — say, Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s delegate to Congress — will give school choice a second look.

That's probably a high hope for this single article, but as with every movement, lots of small victories add up over time. Today's front-pager in the Post is one of these small victories. And it's much preferable to a huge defeat — of the kind now looming for school choice in California.