CNN's John King on President Bush's week ahead

February 19, 2001
Web posted at: 2:31 p.m. EST (1931 GMT)

John King is CNN's senior White House correspondent, responsible for reporting on presidential activities nationally and internationally.

Chat Moderator: President Bush will spend his first Presidents Day in office opening the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center. What is planned for this event?

John King: Mr. Bush will tour the museum and then deliver brief remarks at the dedication ceremonies. It is a chance, the White House says, for the new president to pay tribute to the victims and their families -- remember, back immediately after the bombing, President Clinton came here -- and the White House says President Bush very much wanted to participate to honor the victims.

Question from chat room: What will be the impact on the nation with the opening of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center and the impending execution of McVeigh?

John King: Well, the focus on the McVeigh execution already was reminding the country of the tragedy because of all the media coverage. With this event today, I think there will be more of a focus on the victims than the crime itself, if you will. It is a museum modeled after the holocaust museum in Washington -- a series of interactive stations to take visitors through what happened.

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Chat Moderator: On Tuesday, Bush will go to Columbus, Ohio for a round-table discussion about his education plan. What are some of the questions he is likely to face?

John King: Many teachers are somewhat skeptical of the accountability measures in the Bush plan, especially annual math and reading tests for grades 3 through 8. Teacher's unions oppose that, and many school districts worry about the cost and reliability of such testing. There are also questions about pre-tax education savings accounts that could come up. Some public school advocates worry that those are a means of encouraging parents to choose private schools.

Chat Moderator: Polls show that Americans favor tax cuts, but do not want the reductions to come at the expense of popular government actions, and Democrats are arguing that a tax cut would increase the national debt. How might these facts affect Bush's tax-cut plans, if at all?

John King: Well, for eight years, President Clinton used the bully pulpit to shape public opinion on this issue, and President Bush acknowledges some skepticism, but his team has studied how Ronald Reagan sold the 1981 tax cuts and is planning extensive travel for the president over a period of months. The surplus numbers will fuel a debate in Congress over so called "triggers" -- a mechanism to slow or stop tax cuts if government revenues fall sharply -- but the Bush team enters this debate fairly confident it will get something close to the president's plan in the end. Remember, Democrats were for a $300 billion tax cut last year and are pushing $900 billion over 10 years now, so the debate has moved in Bush's direction.

Question from chat room: How close is the Bush tax plan and the Democrat's plan, now that both seem to have been modified?

John King: By the numbers, it is $900 billion over 10 years versus $1.6 trillion over 10 years. Both plans have some across-the-board rate cuts. The Democrats target their rate cuts to middle class and lower income Americans; Bush cuts all rates. The democratic plan to cut estate or death taxes has an income cap; the Bush plan would eventually repeal estate taxes outright. Both plans also address the so-called marriage penalty on two-earner couples. There is consensus on that, the marriage penalty, and a fairly clear path to compromise on estate taxes. It is the rate cuts that will generate the most debate.

Chat Moderator: At week's end, he will have his first face-to-face session with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Camp David. What are the agenda points for this meeting?

John King: Several major items -- coordinating the debate over maintaining the sanctions on Iraq is one.

The United States also is hoping Mr. Blair will help ease concerns of many European allies about the planned national missile defense system, and Mr. Bush ultimately wants Europe to take a bigger role in Kosovo and Bosnia peacekeeping -- that is a sore spot with the Europeans. There are some trade issues, as well, but mostly it is security issues. Though most of all, the White House views this as an informal "getting-to-know-you." They will go to Camp David to underscore the informal atmosphere of the talks.

Chat Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts to share with us?

John King: It has been an interesting first month of the new administration, stylistically very different from the Clinton years and obviously a major substantive change, as well, in the political agendas. The president speaks to his first joint session of Congress in a week, and it will be interesting to see how he performs in that environment, always important for presidents and one Clinton enjoyed and used as a marketing platform.

Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today.

John King: Thank you for having me. It is always nice to take questions and get different perspectives.

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Oklahoma City National Memorial

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