Tax Cuts Helped Create Deficit, Bush Concedes

President Bush acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that the three tax cuts he propelled into law have contributed to the federal budget’s swing from surplus to deficit during his administration.

Asked at a news conference whether his tax cuts were at least partly responsible for the fiscal turnabout, Bush said, “Part of the deficit, no question, was caused” by them.

At his news conference, he attributed about one-quarter of the swing toward deficits to his tax cuts, one-quarter to increased spending for the war on terrorism and the other half to revenue shortfalls resulting from the weak economy.

His rough estimates track closely with those published by his budget office earlier this month.

In the current fiscal year, the $334-billion surplus foreseen shortly after Bush took office has deteriorated into a $455-billion deficit -- a swing of $789 billion. The budget office said tax cuts were responsible for $177 billion, or 22%, of the total swing.

The Congressional Budget Office has published figures that lead to the same conclusion.