This morning President Bush announced nine members to his long-awaited tax panel that will recommend changes and simplifications to the U.S. tax system, picking former Senators Connie Mack and John Breaux to lead the panel. The president has highlighted tax reform as one of his top priorities in his second term. Officially titled the "President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform," the other members of the panel include:* former Representative Bill Frenzel, a Minnesota Republican and visiting scholar to the Brookings Institution;* former Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rossotti;* Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.;* University of Southern California Professor Elizabeth Garrett;* former Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris;* Stanford University Economics Professor Edward Lazear;* MIT professor James Poterba. The panel will be charged with investigating changes and simplification to the tax code. Bush has given the panel until July 31st to report its recommendations. Click here and here to read more about the announcement of the panel members.