September 14, 2007 4:45 PM
- Text
Bush Opposes Tax Hike To Fix Bridges
(CBS/AP)
President Bush, at a news conference Tuesday, spent 45 minutes answering questions on an unusually broad set of issues. They ranged from Iran's role in Iraq, last week's bridge collapse in Minnesota, the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, a plunge in the home-mortgage market, the possible closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, tax policy and accountability in his administration.
A week after a deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Mr. Bush dismissed Thursday raising the federal gasoline tax to repair the nation's bridges at least until Congress changes the way it spends highway money.
"The way it seems to have worked is that each member on that (Transportation) committee gets to set his or her own priorities first," Mr. Bush said. "That's not the right way to prioritize the people's money. Before we raise taxes, which could affect economic growth, I would strongly urge the Congress to examine how they set priorities."
About $24 billion, or 8 percent of the last $286 billion highway bill, was devoted to highway and bridge projects singled out by lawmakers. The balance is sent in the form of grants to states, which then decide how it will be spent. Federal money accounts for about 45 percent of all infrastructure spending.
The Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee proposed a 5-cent increase in the 18.3 cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax to establish a new trust fund for repairing or replacing structurally deficient highway bridges.
Noting that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was in Iran Thursday, Mr. Bush said he hoped his message would be the same as the United States' that Tehran should halt the export of sophisticated explosive devices into Iraq or "there will be consequences."
He did not say what those consequences would be.
Mr. Bush had a clear message for Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about meddling in Iraq, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod.
"What my message to him is, is that when we catch you playing a non-constructive role, there will be a price to pay," said Mr. Bush.
Skeptics aren't so sure that Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, who received a warm, handshaking welcome from Iran's Ahmadinejad, delivered the same message. Like Iran's rulers, Maliki is a Shiite and lived in Iran for part of his exile, reports Axelrod.
Mr. Bush says he'll get a report from Maliki and no matter how warm the welcome, the Iraqi Prime Minister will see it his way.
"His message, I'm confident will be, stabilize, don't destabilize. — And the sending of weapons into Iraq is a destabilizing factor," said Mr. Bush.
Mr. Bush also said he is confident in the ability of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants at the Afghan border and cooperate with the U.S.
He said he expected Musharraf to take "swift action if there is actionable intelligence inside his country." Mr. Bush refused to address whether the U.S. troops would go into Pakistan without permission from leaders there.
"We spend a lot of time with the leadership in Pakistan talking about what we will do with actionable intelligence," he said. "Am I confident they (terrorists) will be brought to justice? My answer is, `Yes I am.' "
Musharraf, a key ally in Washington's fight against terrorism, is under growing U.S. pressure. But the Pakistani leader is under considerable pressure at home too.
He has seen dwindling popular support amid a failed bid to oust the country's chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry — an independent-minded judge likely to rule on expected legal challenges to Musharraf's bid for re-election to another five-year term. Musharraf also has been beset by rising violence in the country, particularly following an army raid to end the takeover of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, an operation that left more than 100 people dead.
Speculation that an emergency could be imminent grew after Musharraf on Wednesday abruptly pulled out of a meeting in Kabul with more than 600 Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders, phoning Afghan President Hamid Karzai to say he couldn't attend because of "engagements" in Islamabad.
A week after a deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Mr. Bush dismissed Thursday raising the federal gasoline tax to repair the nation's bridges at least until Congress changes the way it spends highway money.
"The way it seems to have worked is that each member on that (Transportation) committee gets to set his or her own priorities first," Mr. Bush said. "That's not the right way to prioritize the people's money. Before we raise taxes, which could affect economic growth, I would strongly urge the Congress to examine how they set priorities."
About $24 billion, or 8 percent of the last $286 billion highway bill, was devoted to highway and bridge projects singled out by lawmakers. The balance is sent in the form of grants to states, which then decide how it will be spent. Federal money accounts for about 45 percent of all infrastructure spending.
The Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee proposed a 5-cent increase in the 18.3 cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax to establish a new trust fund for repairing or replacing structurally deficient highway bridges.
Noting that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was in Iran Thursday, Mr. Bush said he hoped his message would be the same as the United States' that Tehran should halt the export of sophisticated explosive devices into Iraq or "there will be consequences."
He did not say what those consequences would be.
Mr. Bush had a clear message for Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about meddling in Iraq, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod.
"What my message to him is, is that when we catch you playing a non-constructive role, there will be a price to pay," said Mr. Bush.
Skeptics aren't so sure that Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, who received a warm, handshaking welcome from Iran's Ahmadinejad, delivered the same message. Like Iran's rulers, Maliki is a Shiite and lived in Iran for part of his exile, reports Axelrod.
Mr. Bush says he'll get a report from Maliki and no matter how warm the welcome, the Iraqi Prime Minister will see it his way.
"His message, I'm confident will be, stabilize, don't destabilize. — And the sending of weapons into Iraq is a destabilizing factor," said Mr. Bush.
Mr. Bush also said he is confident in the ability of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants at the Afghan border and cooperate with the U.S.
He said he expected Musharraf to take "swift action if there is actionable intelligence inside his country." Mr. Bush refused to address whether the U.S. troops would go into Pakistan without permission from leaders there.
"We spend a lot of time with the leadership in Pakistan talking about what we will do with actionable intelligence," he said. "Am I confident they (terrorists) will be brought to justice? My answer is, `Yes I am.' "
Musharraf, a key ally in Washington's fight against terrorism, is under growing U.S. pressure. But the Pakistani leader is under considerable pressure at home too.
He has seen dwindling popular support amid a failed bid to oust the country's chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry — an independent-minded judge likely to rule on expected legal challenges to Musharraf's bid for re-election to another five-year term. Musharraf also has been beset by rising violence in the country, particularly following an army raid to end the takeover of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, an operation that left more than 100 people dead.
Speculation that an emergency could be imminent grew after Musharraf on Wednesday abruptly pulled out of a meeting in Kabul with more than 600 Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders, phoning Afghan President Hamid Karzai to say he couldn't attend because of "engagements" in Islamabad.
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