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White House touts tax plan
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January 30, 2001: 2:45 p.m. ET
President Bush says $1.6 trillion tax cut would boost sagging confidence
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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Amid more signs of a slowing economy, the White House Tuesday trumpeted President Bush's $1.6 trillion tax-cut plan as a much-needed break to jumpstart the economy and boost Americans' confidence.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the president is willing to work with Congress on tax cuts, and said the president is not opposed to having his plan broken up into various pieces as long as the size of the tax cut remains the same.
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It will be a boost of confidence, we believe, for both markets and consumers.
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Ari Fleischer
White House spokesman |
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"The president's focus will be the bottom line: He wants tax cuts," Fleischer said. "He'll work with Congress on whatever procedure best gets that job done."
Bush has proposed $1.6 trillion in tax cuts and incentives over 10 years, including an overhaul of the current rate structure, reductions to the marriage penalty, and the elimination of the so-called death tax.
Fleischer said the best short-term resolution to the lagging economy would be to "cut taxes and to move forward with the president's tax plan."
"It will be a boost of confidence, we believe, for both markets and consumers," Fleischer said.
O'Neill supports tax cut
At the swearing-in of the new treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, President Bush said he and O'Neill were determined to give a tax break to the American people.
"We share a belief that broad, responsible tax cuts are an important step we can take to regain the momentum of our economy," Bush said. "When we have a government surplus, we must prioritize and spend responsibly and return some of that surplus to the people who worked for it."
O'Neill said there is "obviously a need to move on with giving the American people's money back to them, which we are dedicated to doing."
Democrats want far more modest tax cuts than Bush, but have indicated they are open to compromise, including breaking up Bush's tax cuts into smaller pieces of legislation. But both Republican and Democrats have expressed the need for tax breaks, especially given the current economic climate.
The renewed push for tax cuts came as consumer confidence in January dropped much more sharply than expected, sinking to its lowest level in four years.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which includes Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, began a two-day meeting, in which analysts expect the Fed to lower the interest rate by a half-percentage point and give a signal that more rate cuts could come later in the year. 
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