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White House calls proposed airline package 'excessive'Funds included in war-budget bills
From Dana Bash
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Setting up a showdown with Congress that could slow a spending bill to help pay for the war in Iraq, the White House said Wednesday the more than $3 billion passed by House and Senate appropriations committees to bail out the airline industry is "excessive." "The administration does not oppose some assistance to the airlines, but given the economic facts on the ground, we believe that the level of airline assistance recommended by the House and Senate Committees are excessive," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. The difference of opinion could tie up passage of the $74.7 billion funding package sent to Congress to help pay for war with Iraq and the global fight against terrorism. The airline aid boosts the total cost to closer to $80 billion. The House Appropriations Committee included $3.2 billion for the airlines in the package; the Senate version was $3.5 billion. The airline aid was first proposed by the president's fellow Republicans, and passed the House and Senate panels Tuesday. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, suggested the size of the aid package to airlines could be reduced. "We'll need to get it down in conference," Lott said. Some senior GOP leadership aides, however, said they believed the airline aid would win congressional approval. Fleischer suggested the aid package should only go toward problems the airlines are experiencing because of the war, not other long-standing financial woes. "It is important for tax dollars to be used in a way that recognizes the burdens that the airlines have incurred as a result of the war, not as a result of previous existing factors in the economy that affected the airlines," said Fleischer. He noted that the cost of travel was expected to rise because of anticipation that jet fuel was going to become more expensive due to the war. Instead, said Fleischer, the price has actually fallen from $1.20 a gallon in February to 80 cents a gallon in March. "We're happy to work with the airlines...We want to continue to work with the Hill...But the amounts they passed are excessive," he said. In the days immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress passed a $15 billion bailout package -- $5 billion in direct aid and $10 billion in loans -- to help the airline industry, left reeling by the deadly hijackings. One Republican senator expressed frustration with the White House for not speaking out sooner about the aid to airlines. Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he had sought in vain a White House recommendation on the size of any package earlier. "It's a little curious if the administration turns around and blames us when they wouldn't even make a recommendation," McCain said. Tax cutsMeanwhile, the White House is actively trying to restore as much of the president's $726 billion tax cut proposal as possible after the Senate voted to slash it in half last week. But White House aides privately admit the president is prepared to accept something in the middle, perhaps a $500 billion tax cut. And while Fleischer said Bush would continue to push for his original proposal, he did not close the door to a compromise. "Congress, of course, has the final word," he said about the size of any tax cut. The president met with about a dozen economists from the private sector Wednesday afternoon in the Oval Office. "When you look at the shape the economy is in today, it remains just as important as ever for taxes to be cut this year," said Fleischer. The House passed a budget that includes Bush's full tax plan, and the two will have to find compromise between the two figures. Capitol Hill Producer Trish Turner contributed to this report.
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