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Cheney presses Bush economic planLabor Department reports more job losses
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration continued its push Friday for its $674 billion, 10-year economic plan, saying new numbers on December job losses underscore the need for the package of tax breaks. Democrats, however, maintained their criticism that the plan would do little to stimulate the economy and is tilted toward the wealthy. The Labor Department said Friday that 101,000 jobs were lost in December. The overall jobless rate held steady at 6 percent. "The president remains very concerned about the potential for a jobless recovery. And this is why he calls on Congress to act as quickly as Congress can to pass a job-creating initiative that stimulates the economy and provides greater growth not only for this year, but into the future," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. Vice President Dick Cheney also delivered a pitch for the administration's plan in a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "The jobs and growth proposals the president announced on Tuesday constitute a focused plan to increase capital formation, to encourage consumer spending, to promote small business growth, boost confidence in our markets and give critical help to our unemployed citizens," Cheney said. "We urge Congress to act swiftly to pass this package." Democrats remained sharply critical of the Bush plan. "It's called a growth package. Well, all it's going to grow is the income inequality in this country," said Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minnesota. "It's going to grow the gap between the rich and everyone else, it's going to grow tax unfairness. The rich will pay less and everyone else in America will eventually pay more. It's going to grow federal deficits, and our national debt. And it's going to grow the size of the financial disaster that lies ahead of this country." House Democrats have offered a $136 billion plan, which they say will provide a more immediate stimulus to the economy that won't cause major deficits. Republicans say it doesn't go far enough to be effective. Fleischer acknowledged the differences but called for bipartisan cooperation on an economic bill. "The president views this morning's data as another reason for Democrats and Republicans to work together to get something done to help the country, to help the economy," he said. --CNN White House Producer Christy Brennan contributed to this report.
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