Senators Use TV as Pulpit on Tax Relief

Now that Congress has approved a budget that calls for a $1.35-trillion tax cut over 11 years, senators this week will focus on the tricky details of who will get the relief and when.

Themes of the coming conflict surfaced Sunday as leading lawmakers responded to tax cut proposals in television appearances, with liberals urging restraint and conservatives calling for bold action.

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will begin debating a new plan crafted by its Republican chairman and its top Democrat that would help low- and middle-income taxpayers immediately while postponing some cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

The proposal affects tax rates across the board, as well as an assortment of other federal taxes. Although it represents a shift from President Bush’s original call for a $1.6-trillion tax cut over 10 years, the White House is cheering the emergence of a bipartisan coalition that could drive a major cut through a Senate split 50-50 between the political parties.

But even Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), sponsors of the committee blueprint, acknowledge that their plan is only a starting point. Amendments could reshape it significantly in committee, on the Senate floor and in a final legislative conference with House negotiators who back the Bush plan almost in its entirety.

In the liberal corner, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said that any tax cut approved by Congress should give greater weight to working-class taxpayers through reductions in payroll taxes. Kennedy reiterated what has been his party’s line for months: “a modest tax cut” in the range of $900 billion over 10 years, leaving more money for education, defense, environmental protection and prescription drug benefits.

Kennedy said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the $1.35-trillion plan is excessive and unfair. “Basically it’s a sham,” he said.

In the conservative corner, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) argued that cuts in the highest tax rate would help small-business entrepreneurs. “We believe this will generate a lot of jobs . . . and help jump-start the economy,” he said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”

However, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), frequently a maverick within his party, raised a point likely to draw plenty of attention: how a tax cut will fit within an overall budget that is still not fully defined.

McCain , who gave credit to Baucus and Grassley for formulating a tax cut plan, He told the NBC program that the Senate “should know how much we intend to devote to national defense” over the next decade as it considers tax cuts. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has not yet offered such specifics.