Bush pushes for permanent tax cuts
 |
Story Tools
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
|
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) -- Seizing on trillion-dollar stock market gains as proof the economy is on the right track, President Bush Saturday launched an election-year drive to make his sweeping tax cuts permanent.
Democratic critics have said that would only exacerbate record federal budget deficits expected to top $500 billion this fiscal year alone.
Without mentioning the deficit, Bush warned against calls to "reverse the course by raising taxes on hard-working Americans."
"The choice is clear. Tax relief has got this economy going again, and tax relief will keep it moving forward," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
Democrats blame Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cuts in 2001 -- and last year's $350 billion package -- for the swelling deficits and ballooning debt. The huge costs of war and reconstruction in Afghanistan and Iraq add to the burden.
A plan by Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean would repeal Bush's tax cuts. Others would roll them back for the richest Americans.
Bush said his fiscal 2005 budget, which he will send to Congress February 2, would call on Congress to make permanent all his tax cuts -- from the $1,000 child credit to breaks for small businesses, investors and estates.
"If Congress fails to act, this tax relief will disappear and millions of American families and small businesses would see tax hikes starting in 2005," Bush said.
"For the sake of our economic expansion, and for the sake of millions of Americans who depend on small businesses for their jobs, we need Congress to act to make tax relief permanent," he added.
In making his case, Bush said the U.S. economy was "strong and getting stronger," and cited recent gains in home ownership, business investment, and manufacturing activity.
In a rare reference to stocks, Bush said: "Stock market wealth has increased by more than $3 trillion over the past year."
He also sought to put the best possible spin on the job market -- in December the unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent, down from 5.9 percent in November.
But this decline was mainly because 309,000 people dropped out of the work force. The number of workers on U.S. payrolls outside the farm sector in December increased by just 1,000. It was the fifth consecutive monthly climb but was far below economist expectations for a rise of 130,000.
Still, Bush said the report "underscores a choice about the future of our economy, and the future of those who are looking for work," and urged Congress to "continue on the path."
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
