Yesterday was apparently the fifth anniversary of a momentous occasion in American history. And another day in infamy approaches. On the off-chance that Americans somehow overlooked the fact that noteworthy tax legislation was signed by President Bush on May 28, 2003 -- and this blog stands guilty on that score -- the administration saw fit to mark the moment with a flurry of papers and pronouncements, including:

• a historical perspective
• various and sundry Tax Relief Topics
• a helpful Fact Sheet
• and a press release

As the fact sheet shrieks, "the Largest Tax Increase in History Is Looming." This is an ironic canard, in view of the fact that the president's budget assumes the extension of his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, leaving the Treasury with about $400 billion less in revenues by 2012 than the Democrats' budgets do. And yet he claims that he can produce a budget surplus that year without letting his tax cuts expire.