Read The Return of Elliott Eastman for Free Online

none own derivatives, so the tax is avoided by most of our population. The funding of this program sits squarely on the financial speculation industry. We tax gamblers, don’t we? That’s all these outfits are, gamblers. And most importantly, it’s just a temporary tax, only for a few years. You’re going to appeal to the young new voters in this country and draw generations of voters into the democratic fold. At the same time you’re solving the biggest headache for our retirees wondering if their money will last the remainder of their lives. You’ll win all their votes. Your legacy could be the president who tamed the deficit.”
    President White took a moment to comment. “Initially I must confess I like it, but as you know I’m going to have to run it by my re-election team. I can see one possible pitfall. The corporations that trade most of the stock and hedge funds and their lobbyists will fund any candidate who opposes it. The results could be disastrous for my campaign, but I’ll let you know what my team recommends.”
    “Paul, we’ve known each other for a long time and I know your aim to get re-elected is paramount to you, but I must ask you something. It was the question I found myself asking quite often in my last years in office. What about the American people? What happens to their interests when we leaders of the nation must bow to the wishes of Big Money? I kept coming to the conclusion that they deserved better. At some point we politicians need to do what’s right by the American people.”
    “I understand the sentiment Elliott, but I can’t let those types of thoughts get in the way of my re-election.”
    “Paul,” Elliott said softly, a measure of sadness evident in his voice. “These problems are real. A trillion dollar a year deficit is unsustainable. At some point we will bankrupt the nation, if we haven’t done so already. We’ll go to the media with the names of the corporations that oppose this bill. Any corporation that doesn’t support the new ‘War on the Deficit’ will be blacklisted and their products avoided. We can win this battle. Does your team have any proposals on the table to deal with it?”
    “Nothing concrete yet, but it is something we’re keeping an eye on,” the President replied while glancing at his watch. “I’ve got another meeting to go to in about ten minutes regarding the Israelis, and I need to be briefed on the latest events.”
    “In complete honesty, allow me to digress for a moment. I would also like to see a Value Added Tax. We’re the only advanced democratic nation in the world that doesn’t have one. And perhaps a National Sales Tax enacted for two or three years to further destroy our common enemy, the deficit, but that is for another day and time. I didn’t want to reach too far and those two proposals affect the average American worker, so I much prefer this approach. So I’ll close by making this promise to you, Mr. President.”
    The President noted Elliott’s change in tone and looked over at the former congressman, but at that moment Elliott chose to gaze at the table in front of him collecting his thoughts. He was losing the President. The leader of the free world wasn’t listening.
    The President looked away again until Elliott spoke more forcefully.
    “Listen to me Paul. The time is now. If we can get this into bill form and on the floor of Congress, I will personally write a ten million dollar check to your re-election campaign.”
    The President was in the process of glancing down at his watch for a second time when his head shot back up. He stared intently into Elliott’s face for a moment to be sure the former senator was not joking.
    “I’ll even have my team of lawyers help with drawing up the bill, but we need your backing,” Elliott added.
    “That is very generous, Elliott. Are you sure about that?”
    “I’ll put it in writing if you wish.”
    “That’s not necessary. Your word is good enough for