Don't Mess With Taxes

The only thing we Texans take more seriously than our football (high school, college and pro) and politics (equally crazy at local, state and federal levels) is our barbecue.

So it's no surprise that two of the three converged in George W. Bush's Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas.

A handwritten note from W's brother, then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and current candidate to follow in his father's and sibling's White House footsteps, alerted Bush 43 of a Georgia barbecue joint's "Dubya's Texas Specials" and the meals' associated tax breaks.

"Some people support that tax plan!," Jeb tells his older brother, who at the time the note was delivered in late August 2001 was still basking in the successful enactment of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRAA) of 2001. It was the first piece of sweeping tax legislation that, along with 2003's subsequent tax measures, became known as the Bush tax cuts.

The note, found by New York Times and Boston Globe reporters who sorted through hundreds of recently released Bush Library documents, was attached to a menu from Country's Barbecue.

The Columbus, Georgia-based restaurant was offering Dubya's Texas Specials, described as "great Texas specials [that] are delicious and are even better with the tax relief you'll receive."

A purchase of one of the W-designated menu items got the diner a discount equal to the tax collected on his or her full meal's ticket, which would be applied to a future visit to Country's.

Jeb, in red ink annotations to the menu, urged George to "Check this out" and noted that Columbus was "Bush country."

No word, yet, on W's reaction. The correspondence from Jeb was simply stamped, "The President has seen."