So, it seems, Mr Bush is trying to reach the goal of a consumption tax not through fundamental tax reform, but simply by a thousand cuts on the taxes on capital.

ECONOMIST: George Bush's tax agenda: Handing it back | The

It seems we are inclined, when we have been set a stretch goal that we just did not reach, to tell ourselves that we sort of did, and really do deserve the reward.

FORBES: 'Stretch goals' tend to stretch all the way into fraud