Bush Sets Legislative Agenda

After resigning his post as governor of Texas, President-elect Bush turned almost immediately to what he says will be the number one item on his legislative agenda – education.

Bush played host Thursday to 19 GOP and Democratic members of Congress for an education discussion at the governor's mansion in Austin.

"He's signaling today by meeting with legislators about education that education will be his top domestic priority," said spokeswoman Karen Hughes, who will be White House counselor.

But on education, as on other top legislative concerns like tax cuts and Social Security reform, the incoming president faces the prospect of major roadblocks on Capitol Hill – and they're not all being set up by Democrats.

Bush is in for a tough fight with congressional Democrats, and some Republicans, on some of the more controversial elements of his education plan, like taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools.

"We're all interested in trying to find common ground," said Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. "We've got lots that we can agree on and make progress on. We ought to emphasize and stress those."

Democrats insist that any new money for education address President Clinton's priorities: hiring more teachers, repairing crumbling schools and targeting money to the neediest students.

The fiscal 2001 budget brought record spending, but the parties remain at an ideological impasse. Enter Bush, eager to widen the reforms he says worked in Texas schools when he was governor.

Bush says he hopes to make sure "the education system is responsive not only to the children of the parents who votd for me, but responsive to children from all walks of life."

Conservatives, wary of Bush's proposed $50 billion boost in education spending over the decade, will be pushing for more accountability for failing schools.

"When American students are underachieving in basic areas ... we must find ways to reverse that trend," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., who is seeking to head the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have also expressed reservations about the cornerstone of Bush's economic plan, a proposed $1.3 trillion, 10-year tax cut.

The Bush proposal would reduce all income tax rates, ease the so-called "marriage penalty" paid by many two-income couples, repeal estate taxes and double the $500 child tax credit, among other things.

Some Republicans have counseled caution, preferring to focus on the popular estate and marriage provisions first.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., has been particularly outspoken in his insistence that a series of piecemeal tax cuts, rather than one huge one, is the way to go.

"I wouldn't count on an across-the-board tax cut first," Hastert told CBS News last week.

"I think we ought to look at these things incrementally and get one piece done at a time. I think that's when we've had the most success here," said Hastert.

But Bush is sticking to his guns.

At a press conference announcing Paul H. O'Neill as his choice for treasury secretary, Bush said, "I believe strongly that tax relief is part of the prescription for any economic ill that our nation may have. I think it is so important for members of the Hill to understand that tax relief is all about economic growth and cash flow and accumulation of capitol."

Asked whether talking so much about an economic downturn increases the chances it will happen, Bush said, "One of my jobs is to think ahead, just in case."

Bush may also face an uphill battle on a third legislative priority – Social Security reform.

Bush's Social Security proposal calls for letting people put a portion of their payroll deductions into private accounts invested in the stock market.

Some Democrats, including Al Gore, have argued that the plan is too risky, since if a recession hits and the stock market tanks, consumers could lose their retirement money.

Bush, however, argues that "An investment in the private markets should be viewed as a long term hold. ... There will be ups and downs in the marketplace. But the facts are that the rate of return on moneys held in the private market are significantly higher than that which is achieved off of the Social Security trust."