Treasury chief has to sell tax cuts

Novak reports that John Snow put in a call to him to say the Wall Street Journal had it wrong about the administration's willingness to cave on the tax bill. He concludes as follows:

Back in Washington this week, Snow must convince everybody that he is not about to cut back on a rate reduction essential to business. He must also deal with prickly House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, who so far has not told House Republican leaders what he plans to do with the president's proposal. Finally, nobody has yet calculated how to reach the needed 51 Senate votes.

And then there is the daunting prospect of Alan Greenspan testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. The president announced last week he will turn the other cheek to Greenspan's previous thrashing of the Bush tax bill and name him to a fifth term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Nobody could sell the tax cut better than Greenspan, but he also could inflict far greater damage on tax cuts than ''distortion'' of Snow's quotes.