Dubya Goes To Congress
In his maiden address to Congress on Tuesday night, President Bush urged Americans to take "a different path" by embracing a laundry list of budget priorities and most of all, the centerpiece of his agenda, a 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut plan.
"The people of America have been overcharged, and on their behalf, I am here to ask for a refund," he said. (Click here to see your cut under Mr. Bush's plan.)
But that wasn't the president's only priority: He also called for more spending on education and defense, as well as further paying down of the national debt and a $1 trillion "contingency fund" for any unforeseen budgetary needs.
"I hope you'll join me and stand firmly on the side of the people," Mr. Bush said before an evenly-divided Congress on the 38th day of his presidency.
Immediate reaction to the speech was positive, according to a CBS News poll taken as the president was finishing his address.
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Also, the public perception of the president saw a boost: 62 percent of those Americans surveyed said Mr. Bush shared their priorities, up from 47 percent before the speech. Finally, most of those surveyed expressed optimism that Democrats in Congress will work with the president.
This poll of a representative sample of Americans was conducted by Knowledge Networks.
During his speech, Mr. Bush sought to persuade Americans and Capitol Hill lawmakers that the economy is generating enough money to slash taxes and the debt without sacrificing education, health care and other popular progras — with some left over for an emergency fund.
"Unrestrained government spending is a dangerous road to deficits, so we must take a different path," Mr. Bush said. "The choice is to let the American people spend their own money to meet their own needs, to fund their own priorities and pay down their own debts."
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Mr. Bush said his plan would pay off $2 trillion of the $3.2 trillion in publicly held debt over 10 years. It would leave enough money, he said, for a $1 trillion contingency fund "for unexpected needs (and) additional priorities." The six-paragraph document did not say exactly how the president arrived at the $1 trillion figure. (Click here to chart the national debt's growth.)
With the government awash in budget surpluses, Mr. Bush is offering something for everybody over the next decade: $1.6 trillion in tax cuts, including reductions in every income bracket; $2 trillion in debt reduction; increased spending for education, conservation and other programs; and protections for Social Security and Medicare.
"A budget's impact is counted in dollars, but measured in lives," Mr. Bush said, promising enough money for "xcellent schools, quality health care, a secure retirement, a cleaner environment and a stronger defense."
In their response after the speech, the Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill said the president's budget numbers just don't add up.
"…With tax cuts consuming almost all of the projected surplus, (Mr. Bush) cannot possibly keep his commitment to 'leave no child behind,'" said Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, who co-delivered the response with Sen. Tom Daschle. The Democrats are proposing targeted tax cuts of up to $1 trillion over 10 years, nearly twice as much as they supported a year ago.
On other issues, Mr. Bush said in his speech that he'd appoint a presidential commission this spring to overhaul Social Security and instruct the panel to report its findings by next fall.
"It must preserve the benefits of all current retirees and those nearing retirement," he said. "It must return Social Security to sound financial footing, and it must offer personal savings accounts to younger workers who want them."
The president also said he instructed Attorney General John Ashcroft to develop "specific recommendations to end racial profiling" — the practice of police officers targeting suspects based on their race or other traits.
"It is wrong and we must end it," said Mr. Bush, reaching out to black voters after winning only one out of 10 of their votes in the contentious battle for the White House.
However, echoes of the bitter election recount could be heard through the pomp and grandeur of the speech.
Boos rose from the Democratic side of the aisle as the Supreme Court was announced. Justice Stephen Breyer was the only one of nine members of the court in attendance — and he was one of four who dissented from the historic high court ruling that sealed Mr. Bush's victory back in December.
Immediately after the speech, several Democrats called attention to the fact that Mr. Bush did not mention voter reform — a demand they had made in the days before the speech.
As an incoming president, Mr. Bush's speech to members of the House and the Senate cannot be called a formal "State of the Union" address. However, the political stakes for him and his agenda were just as important.
And yet, that agenda has been buried by the many-tentacled controversy over the last-minute pardons by his predecessor, Bill Clinton. The latest case in point came just hours before the speech. Marc Rich, the one-time fugitive financier pardoned by Mr. Clinton refused to testify before a House committee, while at the same time the former president waived executive privilege to allow former White House staffers to do so.
In a recent survey, pollster Andrew Kohut of the Center for Media and Public Affairs found that in tis 24-7, total news coverage world, one-third of Americans said they needed more information about the president's proposals.
Worse for Mr. Bush, his sales pitch on tax cuts — that he is trying to help working mothers and struggling families — hadn't appeared to be getting through before the speech. An overwhelming majority of those responding to the center's survey at midmonth said the tax relief that Mr. Bush wants would benefit wealthy taxpayers much more than others.
"The question is how's he going to get center stage so he can get some real public support going on this tax thing," Kohut said before the speech. "This is an important problem for the new president when he is competing with the old one for the attention of the American public."
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