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Bush to gather advisers in Texas to focus on economyDemocrats fault administration policies
From Dana Bash
CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- The president will gather top advisers at his ranch Wednesday to highlight an issue Democrats think is his Achilles' heel: the sagging economy. Three members of President Bush's Cabinet and a host of other top officials charged with economic policy will participate in a morning meeting and a working lunch to look at the state of the economy, the effect of the president's tax cuts and other means of stimulus beyond those cuts. While a senior administration official said no new policy proposals will be introduced, participants will spotlight Bush's push for energy reform, legal reform and expanding trade initiatives. A poll from the Pew Research Center released late last week showed nearly six in 10 Americans, 57 percent, say the economy -- not terrorism -- is the most important presidential priority, up from 39 percent this time last year. If the economy takes precedence over terrorism concerns, it could present a changing dynamic for Bush, who has benefited from high poll ratings from Americans happy with his leadership on national security since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. Democratic presidential candidates are increasingly seizing on Americans' concerns about the economy by blaming unemployment and burgeoning deficit on the president's policies. When the president travels the country, he routinely points to the terrorist attacks, corporate scandals and the war in Iraq as the reasons the economy has been slow to recover. At Wednesday's meeting, Bush officials are expected to highlight the impact of the tax cuts the president signed into law. White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said those tax cuts are "just beginning to flow through the economy." Democratic critics, in an organized conference call with reporters, pointed to the president's tax cuts as the reason for record deficits and slow recovery. "I believe the administration may have been successful in the short term at hoodwinking the public," said former Clinton economic adviser Gene Sperling. "Here's an administration that comes back each time with another deficit-exploding device," he said of Bush's tax cuts. This summer's presidential meeting on the economy will be different from last summer's, when the president invited economists, chief executives and others outside government to nearby Waco for an all-day forum. Wednesday's meeting will be smaller and mostly private. Those meeting at the president's ranch include Treasury Secretary John Snow, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Office of Management and Budget Director Josh Bolten and other White House senior economic staff.
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