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Sen. Voinovich: No More than $350 Billion in Tax Cuts

Aired April 24, 2003 - 14:42   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn our attention now to Bill Schneider, our senior political analyst.
Bill Schneider, today it was all about guns and butter. President bush said we're good with guns and don't worry about the butter, either, and let's cut the taxes. Does all that add up?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, some people are raising some questions about it. One of them is Senator George Voinovich, who's the senator right there in Ohio, the state that President Bush is visiting. Senator Voinovich has insisted that he will not support a tax cut larger than $350 billion. The president originally proposed a tax cut amounting to over $700 billion. And now he says he'll accept $550 billion, which is the figure passed by the House of Representatives.

But Voinovich says, No, he as a senator, along with a couple of other so-called moderate Republican senators won't budge. They say nothing more than $350 billion because, they say, very simply, we can't afford it. With a recession that a lot of Americans believe prevails in the country, with the cost of war, with the looming deficit, Voinovich is what I would call a Republican old believer. He believes in the old faith, that deficits are bad, that you can't spend a lot of money either on government programs or tax cuts at a time when money is tight. So he says I'm going to draw the line at $350.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Supply side is the term. Some would call it voodoo economics. It depends on which way you look at it. But it does put a lot of Republicans in a difficult pinch doesn't it?

SCHNEIDER: Well, it does. That's the new believers, the supply siders, and they came around with Ronald Reagan back in the early 1990s who argue that if you cut taxes, somehow you could increase government revenues.

Now how can you do that? Well, the argument is -- you heard President Bush make it a few minutes ago. You stimulate the economy, create more jobs, because with fewer taxes to pay, more Americans -- presumably, that would be wealthy Americans who pay most of the taxes, if they get a tax cut, they will invest more money and the economy will grow faster and there will be more jobs and therefore more tax revenues.

It is the article of faith among the new believers in the Republican Party among whom you would have to say President Bush is certainly one. O'BRIEN: Now Ohio tends to be a crossroads in all of this, doesn't it?

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely. It's a crucial swing state. It was a state that a lot of people were surprised to see President Bush carry because he did not carry neighboring states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. But he carried the state of Ohio. It has always been a critical swing state in any presidential election. President Nixon used to tell Republicans after him, go to Ohio. That's where you should spend your time and your money. If you win Ohio, you'll probably win the election.

O'BRIEN: As Ohio goes, so goes the nation, perhaps. Bill Schneider...

SCHNEIDER: Usually.

O'BRIEN: ...in Washington. Always a pleasure to hear from you, sir. Thank you very much.

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 24, 2003 - 14:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn our attention now to Bill Schneider, our senior political analyst.
Bill Schneider, today it was all about guns and butter. President bush said we're good with guns and don't worry about the butter, either, and let's cut the taxes. Does all that add up?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, some people are raising some questions about it. One of them is Senator George Voinovich, who's the senator right there in Ohio, the state that President Bush is visiting. Senator Voinovich has insisted that he will not support a tax cut larger than $350 billion. The president originally proposed a tax cut amounting to over $700 billion. And now he says he'll accept $550 billion, which is the figure passed by the House of Representatives.

But Voinovich says, No, he as a senator, along with a couple of other so-called moderate Republican senators won't budge. They say nothing more than $350 billion because, they say, very simply, we can't afford it. With a recession that a lot of Americans believe prevails in the country, with the cost of war, with the looming deficit, Voinovich is what I would call a Republican old believer. He believes in the old faith, that deficits are bad, that you can't spend a lot of money either on government programs or tax cuts at a time when money is tight. So he says I'm going to draw the line at $350.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Supply side is the term. Some would call it voodoo economics. It depends on which way you look at it. But it does put a lot of Republicans in a difficult pinch doesn't it?

SCHNEIDER: Well, it does. That's the new believers, the supply siders, and they came around with Ronald Reagan back in the early 1990s who argue that if you cut taxes, somehow you could increase government revenues.

Now how can you do that? Well, the argument is -- you heard President Bush make it a few minutes ago. You stimulate the economy, create more jobs, because with fewer taxes to pay, more Americans -- presumably, that would be wealthy Americans who pay most of the taxes, if they get a tax cut, they will invest more money and the economy will grow faster and there will be more jobs and therefore more tax revenues.

It is the article of faith among the new believers in the Republican Party among whom you would have to say President Bush is certainly one. O'BRIEN: Now Ohio tends to be a crossroads in all of this, doesn't it?

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely. It's a crucial swing state. It was a state that a lot of people were surprised to see President Bush carry because he did not carry neighboring states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. But he carried the state of Ohio. It has always been a critical swing state in any presidential election. President Nixon used to tell Republicans after him, go to Ohio. That's where you should spend your time and your money. If you win Ohio, you'll probably win the election.

O'BRIEN: As Ohio goes, so goes the nation, perhaps. Bill Schneider...

SCHNEIDER: Usually.

O'BRIEN: ...in Washington. Always a pleasure to hear from you, sir. Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com