GOP Agenda in Congress May Be at Risk

Katrina's Costs, High Fuel Prices Working Against More Tax Cuts

By Jonathan Weisman

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 4, 2005; Page A02

Republican leaders intended to return to work with a dream agenda for small-government conservatives: permanent repeal of the estate tax, an extension of deep cuts to capital gains and dividend taxes, the first entitlement spending cuts in nearly a decade, and the advent of private investment accounts for Social Security.

But Congress and the White House are on the spot to respond to Hurricane Katrina's historic Gulf Coast destruction and skyrocketing gasoline prices, and the leadership is feeling pressure to set aside or jettison parts of that well-laid agenda.