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CNN Live At Daybreak
Bush Agenda: Tax-Cut Plan
Aired April 22, 2003 - 06:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: After weeks of focusing on Iraq, President Bush will deal with domestic issues today, lobbying for his tax bill.
CNN White House correspondent Chris Burns previews the president's day.
Good morning -- Chris.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
The president is back from Crawford, Texas, his ranch in Texas, and he is spending this week focusing quite a bit on domestic issues, especially on his tax-cut plan, what he calls his "jobs and growth plan." He would like to cut taxes by $726 billion over the next 10 years.
Now, he is up against the Senate and the House. The Senate wants to cut it down to $350 billion. The president would like as much of that tax cut as he can. The House is asking for a $550 billion tax cut. So there's a lot of wheeling and dealing going on.
What is that tax cut? Well, a large part of it is slashing and eventually eliminating the dividend tax. The president would like to get rid of it altogether right now. He would like to get rid of the marriage penalty, or at least reduce the marriage penalty. He would like to increase the child tax credit by $400, raising it up to $1,000.
The Bush administration says that all of this would help to put about $50 billion in the pockets of Americans. Think about that multiplier effect, economics 101. That would boost the economy. They say it would boost the economy by about 1 percent of growth; that badly needed. You've got unemployment, 5.8 percent. It could create more than a million jobs.
Now, how does he get it passed? The president is going to be campaigning, and much of his administration is campaigning, over the next few days during this Easter recess. More than half of the states in the country they are going to be visiting.
The president himself is going to be going to Ohio on Thursday, much as he did back last week when he went to see the Boeing plant in St. Louis. This would sort of combine the boost from his victory in Iraq to try to translate that into a domestic victory on Capitol Hill. He's going to be visiting a state where Senator Voinovich, a Republican, is one of those that is trying to cut that tax cut down to $350 billion.
So a lot of slugging out. The president going to go to the jugular of the political situation to try to gain support, to try to get that passed when the Congress comes back from their Easter recess.
COSTELLO: Yes, I know he's going to Maine, too, for those very same reasons. Chris Burns live from Washington this morning. Many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired April 22, 2003 - 06:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: After weeks of focusing on Iraq, President Bush will deal with domestic issues today, lobbying for his tax bill.
CNN White House correspondent Chris Burns previews the president's day.
Good morning -- Chris.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
The president is back from Crawford, Texas, his ranch in Texas, and he is spending this week focusing quite a bit on domestic issues, especially on his tax-cut plan, what he calls his "jobs and growth plan." He would like to cut taxes by $726 billion over the next 10 years.
Now, he is up against the Senate and the House. The Senate wants to cut it down to $350 billion. The president would like as much of that tax cut as he can. The House is asking for a $550 billion tax cut. So there's a lot of wheeling and dealing going on.
What is that tax cut? Well, a large part of it is slashing and eventually eliminating the dividend tax. The president would like to get rid of it altogether right now. He would like to get rid of the marriage penalty, or at least reduce the marriage penalty. He would like to increase the child tax credit by $400, raising it up to $1,000.
The Bush administration says that all of this would help to put about $50 billion in the pockets of Americans. Think about that multiplier effect, economics 101. That would boost the economy. They say it would boost the economy by about 1 percent of growth; that badly needed. You've got unemployment, 5.8 percent. It could create more than a million jobs.
Now, how does he get it passed? The president is going to be campaigning, and much of his administration is campaigning, over the next few days during this Easter recess. More than half of the states in the country they are going to be visiting.
The president himself is going to be going to Ohio on Thursday, much as he did back last week when he went to see the Boeing plant in St. Louis. This would sort of combine the boost from his victory in Iraq to try to translate that into a domestic victory on Capitol Hill. He's going to be visiting a state where Senator Voinovich, a Republican, is one of those that is trying to cut that tax cut down to $350 billion.
So a lot of slugging out. The president going to go to the jugular of the political situation to try to gain support, to try to get that passed when the Congress comes back from their Easter recess.
COSTELLO: Yes, I know he's going to Maine, too, for those very same reasons. Chris Burns live from Washington this morning. Many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
