Marc Gerson commented on the impact of the recent Presidential and Congressional elections on the current "lame duck" negotiations over the expiring 2001/2003 Bush tax cuts. "It is important to recognize that a significant component of the president's economic platform was that the Bush tax cuts should in fact be allowed to expire for higher income taxpayers," Gerson said. "It will be interesting to see how the elections impact the negotiation posture of the administration, who may view it as a mandate of this position, and of the House Republicans, who retained majority in the House and may view the election as a mandate of their own position that the Bush tax cuts should be extended for all taxpayers."