Cut Credit Card Rates, President Urges Bankers

President Bush Tuesday urged banks to slash credit card interest rates as he mounted a new effort to rekindle the economy short of cutting taxes.

In warning against congressional sentiment for a “euphoric” tax cut, Bush said he is confident that interest rates newly lowered by the Federal Reserve Board will soon “kick in” to spur the economy toward new growth.

But, as he shifted his rate-cutting message from the Federal Reserve to the banks, the President continued to cast around for new cost-free solutions to the economic woes that have become his own personal crisis.

With new polls showing Bush’s public approval ratings plummeting, the President seemed to be searching for an effective political message as he took his undeclared campaign to a $2.2-million fund-raiser here.

In a halting 25-minute luncheon speech, Bush tested half a dozen different campaign themes unified primarily by his fierce new election-year animosity toward Capitol Hill.

“I am not going to be the javelin-catcher for the liberals in Congress any more,” he vowed.

As he defended his decision to postpone a trip to Asia until after Congress adjourns, he invoked the theme of the hit comedy-suspense film “Home Alone,” saying: “I saw that movie . . . and I owe it to the taxpayers to make sure Congress never stays home alone.”

The attacks on Congress and renewed calls for lower interest rates were made as the President struggles to mount an effective defense against growing congressional support for an economic growth package that could include a tax cut for the middle class.

With his own advisers divided on the issue, Bush has ruled out the introduction of any White House growth package before next February. But, in the face of new proposals from both congressional Democrats and Republicans, he issued his strongest warning yet against “some euphoric tax cut that may or may not” have a positive effect on the economy.

“This isn’t a country that needs a quick fix,” Bush declared at the luncheon, which was attended by more than 2,000 donors to Republican campaigns. “We need some confidence.”

That emphasis on consumer confidence has been a consistent White House theme as Bush contends that a public unwillingness to spend, more than any deeper malady, is to blame for the nation’s economic problems.

In hailing the decision by the Fed last week to reduce the discount rate--the rate it charges commercial banks for short-term loans--to 4.5%, an 18-year low, Bush said that he is “convinced we’ll soon see the low rates kick in and boost this sagging consumer confidence.”

But he quickly added that recent conversations with businessmen have convinced him that the high rates of interest charged by banks for credit card purchases are serving as a brake on the economy.

“I’d frankly like to see the credit card rates (go) down,” Bush said. “I believe that would help stimulate the consumer and get consumer confidence moving again.”

Interest rates on most credit cards remain at 18% or higher and have not been affected by the sharp decline in other rates. The cards have been a major source of profit for the banks, which have felt little pressure to compete with one another on interest rates.

In what may be a sign of change, however, First Chicago Corp. is quietly lowering the interest rate it charges its most credit-worthy card customers by 3 percentage points to 14.4%, the newspaper American Banker reported Tuesday. A week earlier, Banc One Corp.’s Wisconsin banking unit introduced a card with a 13.9% rate.

Bush did not elaborate on his overture to the banks, but an Administration official said later that the White House was troubled by evidence showing a sharp drop-off in credit card purchases.

White House officials said that Bush is not worried by his poor showing in new polls, including a Times Mirror Center for People and the Press survey Tuesday showing his public approval rating dipping to 55%, a 29-point drop since October.

“Polls go up and polls go down,” White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said. “It’s a long way ‘til Election Day.”

But the mood was somber and the applause muted among Bush’s New York loyalists, and those who introduced Bush made preemptive attacks against New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, who has not yet announced whether he will enter the Democratic presidential race.

And Bush himself, stung by criticism of his economic management, accused his critics of wishing the worst for the economy because “Democrats believe that they can win only if times are bad.”

“They have a vested view in seeing us fail,” Bush said of the Democrats. “And what a tawdry, negative way to view this, the greatest country in the world.”

Also, Bush scorned what he said was a Democratic impulse toward isolationism and renewed his argument that, in an interconnected modern world, his attention to foreign affairs is necessary to secure American economic interests.

“I will not turn my back on my responsibility to do the nation’s business here and abroad,” he said in an evening speech before the Asia Society.

He noted that, although much of the American heritage comes from Europe, “our future points equally toward Asia.”

Bush met here with leaders of major American Jewish groups in a session to be followed by a meeting with Arab-American leaders on Friday. Both events will focus on the Middle East peace process.

Staff writer James Bates contributed to this story.

DEMOCRATS CAMPAIGN: The six Democratic presidential candidates maneuver for the support of organized labor. A4