Bush Says He Won’t Budge on Tax Cuts

In an opening round of election-year rhetoric, a spirited President Bush vowed Saturday that his signature $1.35-trillion, 10-year tax cut would be repealed only “over my dead body,” accusing Democrats of wanting to raise taxes.

“I challenge their economics when they say raising taxes will help the country recover,” the president said defiantly at a town hall meeting here, with about 5,000 enthusiastic Southern Californians repeatedly interrupting his remarks with applause.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) immediately fired back, issuing a statement in Washington: “No amount of hot rhetoric will get the economy back on track.”

Daschle also said that it was “undeniable that the Republicans turned record surpluses into deficits in the space of just one year. It is time they explain to the American people what they intend to do about the hole they dug.”

The high-decibel exchange between the leaders of the two major political parties signaled a reemergence of domestic issues--specifically over how to deal with the economic recession--as control of both houses of Congress hangs in the balance in November’s elections.

Bush’s comments were in response to a speech Friday by Daschle, who said the across-the-board tax cut “probably made the recession worse.”

But Daschle did not call for its repeal, as Bush implied Saturday.

“Let me be clear,” Daschle responded Saturday, “I proposed short-term tax cuts to create jobs and generate investment and long-term fiscal discipline, not tax increases.”

Despite his confrontational tone, Bush called for the kind of conciliation at home that has prevailed in the war on terrorism abroad.

“We have responded to the issues abroad with unanimity and clarity of purpose and resolve,” the president said. “It’s time to take this spirit of unanimity . . . and bring it to Washington, D.C.”

Much of Bush’s opening statement consisted of a progress report on the war against Osama bin Laden, his Al Qaeda terrorist network and the erstwhile ruling Taliban. The president won rousing support time and again for his now-familiar resolve and bellicose language directed at the “evil-doers.”

During a brief question-and-answer period, Bush criticized the Immigration and Naturalization Service for being “too bureaucratic” and said he intends to “streamline it and make it work.” He did not elaborate.

Well aware that the Ontario audience was disproportionately made up of Latinos, the president emerged during “Hail to the Chief” and let loose a burst of Spanish phrases that delighted many in the audience--and prompted several to speak back to him in Spanish later as they posed questions to him.

White House aides said Ontario was chosen for the town hall meeting in part because it anchors the Inland Empire, which voted for Bush last year in larger numbers than any other region of California. And perhaps equally convenient, many polls show that a higher percentage of Latinos back the president’s prosecution of the war than any other ethnic group.

Those two factors clearly contributed Saturday to the adulation showered upon Bush. The crowd’s repeated applause were reminiscent of that accorded a president during a State of the Union address.

Since Christmas, Bush has spent most of his days on his 1,600-acre ranch near Crawford, Texas. That respite clearly has rejuvenated Bush and put him in a good humor.

When a Latina entrepreneur declared her desire to design a dress for First Lady Laura Bush, the president answered: “You’ve got a very good marketing department, I see that!”

Just before leaving Ontario for Portland, Ore., Bush met briefly with California Gov. Gray Davis in the presidential limousine. All three candidates for the Republican gubernatorial nomination attended the town hall meeting, as did several members of Congress from Southern California. But they all were kept far from Bush in public.

“He’s a nonpartisan president during these times,” explained former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who said the White House wanted to avoid any hint of partisan politics during Bush’s brief stop here.

On the war front, Bush without prompting launched into a defense of the crackdown against suspected terrorists in the United States, which has been questioned by some civil libertarians.

“We respect people’s constitutional rights, and we will continue to do so,” Bush said. “But if we think somebody is fixing to hurt the American people, we will move in this country.”

He characterized the counter-terrorism campaign as “a clear case of good versus evil--and make no mistake about it: Good will prevail.”

In a sneak preview of his first State of the Union address, scheduled for Jan. 29 before a joint session of Congress, Bush said he will “make sure that the defense of this nation is the No. 1 priority of the budget of the United States.”

He spoke so animatedly, first about the war and then the economy, that he left little time for questions and answers.

One of the morning’s strongest ovations came when Bush appealed to Democrats for unanimity on domestic issues, although it was far from clear that the response represented an endorsement of Bush’s agenda.

“The terrorists not only attacked our freedom but they also attacked our economy, and we need to respond in unison,” the president said. “I stand here before you as a proud party man. But let me tell you something, the country is far more important.”

Bush said the growing debate over how to fight the recession “is troubling me,” both because of the political rancor and the specific Democratic criticisms of the 10-year tax cut. “I don’t know what economic textbook they’re reading,” Bush fumed with mock anger.

Bush’s unequivocal promise to fight any attempt to repeal the tax cut was reminiscent of the “Read my lips: No new taxes” pledge made in 1988 by his father, former President Bush. The elder Bush later abandoned that pledge, angering many Republicans and playing a role in the 41st president’s reelection defeat in 1992.

In his weekly Saturday radio address, the president urged the Senate to pass his bill to stimulate the economy. The measure was passed by the Republican-dominated House but has stalled in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Bush noted pointedly that he had proposed the bill Oct. 4, “three months and 943,000 lost jobs ago.”

In Portland, Bush toured a job training center and then spoke at a high school, echoing the themes he touched on in California.

Oregon, which was one of the most closely contested states in the disputed 2000 presidential election, has a 7.4% joblessness rate, the highest in the nation.

At Parkrose High School in Portland, Bush told several thousand people: “My greatest hope for 2002 is that people who want to work can find a job.”

The president also toured the Northeast Portland One-Stop Career Center, where he said: “There are some people that are worried about their unemployment benefits; they’re worried about health care payments. Congress needs to focus on what can get done . . . [and] to stop playing politics.”

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