John King: Tax bill vote, energy policies and other political news

John King

John King is CNN's senior White House correspondent.

CNN Moderator: Happy Monday, John King. Welcome to you and all to Political Week in Preview chat.

John King: Hello everyone ... happy Monday.

CNN Moderator: What's the latest on the tax bill -- will there be a final Senate vote this week?

John King: The Senate has a series of amendments to vote on today - tonight -- and is scheduled to vote final passage late tonight. Then there is a conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions - - that could prove interesting because the House wants a bigger tax cut, and a bigger cut in the top rate, than the Senate does.

Question from chat room: Who are the people on either side who plan on crossing the aisle in any vote that takes place on the tax issue?

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John King: Well it is different from House to Senate and even on some of the subsets of the tax debate. In the Senate, for example, Republican moderates Jim Jeffords and Lincoln Chafee are among those who want to keep the cut in the top rate smaller than what the White House wants. On the Democratic side, Senators like Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Zell Miller of Georgia are from conservative states and are worth watching The next big test will be when the House and Senate try to strike a compromise -- if the House forces changes to the Senate plan, it could set the stage for another difficult battle in the Senate.

And remember this: this is ONLY the budget resolution - a framework. Congress still has to pass more than a dozen appropriations bills -- all the line-by-line, program-by-program budget bills that are supposed to fit within the parameters of the budget resolution but sometimes veer quite significantly, at least at the outset, from the limits Congress adopts in this initial round of budgeting.

Question from chat room: Do the president's opponents consider it a victory that they knocked $300 billion of the tax cut plan?

John King: Some do consider it a victory, proof to them that they can hold some sway over the administration in such a narrowly divided Congress. Others, though, also concede that the tax debate has fundamentally changed under Mr. Bush: remember $500 billion was as high as the Democrats would go last year, and with President Clinton in the White House the Democrats for the final six years of his administration blocked any talk of across-the-board rate cuts.

Question from chat room: John, I remember Republican and media criticism when Hillary did secret meetings for healthcare reform. Why wasn't the media in an uproar when Cheney did the same thing with big GOP energy donors?

John King: Well there was a fair amount of media reporting about the secretive nature of the task force. But one big difference was that Republicans time and time and time again criticized the Clinton health care task force. Democrats from time to time -- and certainly when the report was released -- criticized the Cheney task force but not nearly as often and with not nearly as much volume (if you will) as the GOP did back in 1994.

Question from chat room: President Bush's climate and energy policies have came under criticism from environmentalists both inside and outside the country. Do you think his administration will revise his policy due to pressures from Japan, Canada, EU and UN?

John King: Well the administration report is relatively benign on the issues most important to international allies, and critics for that matter-- benign in the sense that there are no new major policies on global warming. The administration promises fresh consultations in an effort to find some alternative to the Kyoto treaty. But there certainly is a great deal of frustration and indeed some consternation among traditional U.S. allies that the effort to reduce so-called greenhouse gases will be stymied by the lack of U.S. participation and, some say, the lack of U.S. leadership on this issue.

Question from chat room: What are the risks for U.S. economic interests if the violence in the Middle East does not abate or if it escalates?

John King: There is little direct potential economic impact in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute - in the context of there being so little importing from those entities, or little major back and forth trade for that matter in the context of the entire US economy. There of course would be a major potential impact if the conflict spread and regional tensions rose in a way that somehow limited or put "the fear factor" into oil shipments. But there is no evidence and no talk among the experts of such a development. There is considerable chagrin in the context of the political climate that things on the ground in the region have deteriorated significantly.

Question from chat room: John any news from Capitol Hill on reaction to Defense Secretary Rumsfield's secret investigations ongoing at The Pentagon and the lack of notification to Capitol Hill about them?

John King: There is a great deal of grumbling over the secretive nature of Secretary Rumsfeld's top-to-bottom review of Pentagon spending. And wait for the actual recommendations. For years the Pentagon has been required to buy weapons, even build ships, that it didn't want because of the power of Congress. Majority Leader Lott for example has a major shipyard in his state. So when the Pentagon proposes major changes in weapons programs and purchasing arrangements, it will set off a bruising debate in Congress and test the loyalty of many Republicans to their president.

Question from chat room: Hi John, any truth to the story regarding the Bush administration not supporting the draft agreement to enforcing the banning of biological weapons?

John King: Yes there is truth to that. The administration does not believe the investigating and enforcement provisions are strong enough to make it an effective protocol. There are talks on going -- and this is another test of relations with key European allies who already are upset or at least dismayed over issues like missile defense and global warming.

Question from chat room: Hey John! Is the White House going to enjoy the visit by Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian? Seems like a little diplomatic payback is happening!

John King: Such transit visas were approved during the Clinton years as well and then, as now, it caused a fair amount of tension with Beijing. The administration insists it is not driven by a desire for "payback," but this will certainly be a way of making clear to Beijing that the administration will not heed China's calls for a harder U.S. line against Taiwan.

CNN Moderator: What's on the president's agenda and/or top political stories for this week?

John King: A nostalgic visit to Yale today, and a lot of behind-the-scenes discussions - as well as some public comments at this hour by Secretary Powell about whether the U.S. needs to recalibrate its strategy toward the Middle East. And the defense spending review that we discussed earlier is in its final stages and the president could offer a preview when he delivers Friday's commencement address at Annapolis - the Naval Academy. And one more: watch the House this week, some conservatives are upset with the turn of the education debate and have a series of votes there on amendments that could highlight one area in which conservatives are grumbling at the White House a little.

CNN Moderator: As always, thanks for joining us again John. See you next week, same time, same place.

John King: My pleasure. Have a good day and a good week.

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Senate moves toward completion of tax relief bill
May 21, 2001
Tax cut victory also will give GOP control of lion's share of surplus
May 21, 2001
Bush energy plan: Conservation, eased regulations and diversificationr
May 21, 2001

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