From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Democrats, Republicans, and taxes.

Hello again, I'm Orin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Polls show Americans believe that President Bush's tax cuts help the rich at the expense of the middle class.

Will Congress do something about it?

When one powerful Democrat outlined the mother of all tax reforms, Republicans immediately renamed it the mother of all tax hikes.

Even Democratic consultants warn it's risky to mess with taxes in an election year.

Voters are fickle and campaigns have to be paid for.

On to the point, how will Democrats choose between their voters and their contributors?

Will tax reform have traction in the presidential campaign?

On reporters' notebook later on, on Capitol Hill in the Bush White House, France is back.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John

D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

Foundation. Hello again, Warren. I'll be back with To the Point. Republicans and Democrats agree

that it's time to reform the tax code, but reform almost always means that when somebody's taxes

go down, somebody else's go up. On To the Point, is tax reform a great presidential issue for Democrats or a gift to Republicans?

How would it impact the people who pay for campaigns? On reporter's notebook, French President

Nicholas Sarkozy, men's fences at the Bush White House and a joint session of Congress.

First, this news update. After meeting with some opposition parties today, Pakistan's former

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