In his first foray before a divided Congress, President Bush set the stage Tuesday for the opening legislative battle of his presidency, advocating a sweeping spending plan featuring a $1.6 trillion tax cut, elimination of most of the national debt and a commission to fix the financially troubled Social Security program.
Addressing a joint session of Congress and a prime-time national television audience, the new president told lawmakers that the nation could afford all of his programs while controlling spending, and that his economic plans were “worthy of a great country.”
“Year after year in Washington, budget debates seem to come down to an old, tired argument,” Bush said. “On one side, those who want more government regardless of the cost. On the other, those who want less government regardless of the need. We should leave those arguments to the last century and chart a different course.
“Government has a role, and an important one,” Bush added. “Our new governing vision says government should be active but limited, engaged but not overbearing.”
Few of the details were surprising, but the president, not always known as a skilled speaker, used the speech to deliver a confident description of his plans. He summoned his favorite techniques, from humorous lines to self-deprecating personal references, to sell his program to Congress, and will begin a two-day trip across the country on Wednesday to make the same case to various audiences in person.
The speech was essentially a State of the Union address, although the White House did not officially call it that because Bush has just taken office.
Bush received an enthusiastic welcome from a Republican-controlled Congress that was greeting its first Republican chief executive in eight years. Dwight Eisenhower was the last Republican president to address a Congress in which both chambers were controlled by his own party, nearly a half-century ago.
The president was interrupted frequently by applause in the House chamber of the Capitol. Unlike his predecessor in the White House, Bill Clinton, Bush used the address to paint broad themes rather than specify detailed programs. His preliminary budget will fill in many of those details when it is submitted Wednesday.
Bush’s central message was that despite his critics’ arguments, the nation can in fact afford all his priorities: A big tax cut, spending on important programs and effective elimination of the national debt.
The president devoted his most impassioned words to defending his $1.6 trillion tax cut, criticized by Democrats as irresponsibly large.
“Unrestrained government spending is a dangerous road to deficits, so we must take a different path,” Bush said. “The other 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. …The American people have been overcharged. And on their behalf, I am here to ask for a refund.”
Bush also sent a message to Republicans who have argued that the country needs a bigger tax cut.
“Some say my tax plan is too big, others say it is too small,” Bush said. “I respectfully disagree. The tax relief is just right. I did not throw darts at a board to come up with a number for tax relief.”
Bush insisted that the government should pay off $2 trillion of its $3.2 trillion debt. Some say the debt should be eliminated entirely but Bush argues that paying any more would be irresponsible because the government would incur significant penalties.
The president also proposed a $1 trillion “contingency fund” to protect the nation against emergencies, a version of an idea originally suggested by Clinton. He also announced plans to form a commission to recommend reforms to the Social Security program by next fall.
Whatever the commission proposes, Bush said, must include his proposal to allow younger workers to invest some of their Social Security payments in the stock market.
Democrats wasted little time criticizing Bush’s speech, saying he had falsely promised Americans that they can have it all. Several Democrats cited Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts, arguing that they led to years of deficit and recession.
“If what the president said tonight sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.). “President Bush’s numbers just don’t add up. Ours do. His plan leaves no money for anything except tax cuts.”
Democrats denounced the tax cut as reckless and unfair to working Americans, even as they tried to appear above partisanship by declaring their willingness to work with Bush on other issues.
“We agree with the president; we want a significant tax cut this year,” said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.). “But we want a different kind, a tax cut that is part of a responsible budget, that lets us pay off the debt and invest in America’s future. President Bush’s plan doesn’t do that.”
Bush’s style in delivering the speech reflected his trademark personal touch. He took his time walking to the podium, shaking the hands of as many lawmakers as possible, and afterwards he also grasped hands, winking and pointing at those he recognized.
He began by referring to his favorite topic of civility, saying Democrats and Republicans are bringing a new spirit to Washington. “We are making progress,” Bush said. “Together, we are changing the tone of our nation’s capital.”
In discussing health care, Bush singled out Rep. Joe Moakley (D-Mass.), who is struggling with cancer, calling him “a fine representative and a good man.”
As he likes to do, Bush inserted a line of Spanish, “j untos podemos,” meaning “together we can.”
Following his predecessors beginning with Ronald Reagan, Bush invited ordinary citizens to sit in the president’s box. He used the financial situation of one family, Steven and Josefina Ramos, to argue that his tax cut will help hard-working Americans.
Under his plan, Bush said, the couple would recoup more than $2,000. “The Ramoses are from Pennsylvania, but they could be from any one of your districts,” Bush said, possibly a veiled warning to lawmakers who oppose a tax cut.
Bush saluted another of his guests, Philadelphia’s Democratic Mayor John Street, for his work with faith-based groups. “Let the record show I lost his city, big time,” Bush said. “But some things are bigger than politics.”
Bush gave only passing mention to two controversial topics that have dogged his first month as president–electoral reform and campaign finance reform.
In what may have been a gesture to African-Americans, who voted overwhelmingly against him, Bush announced that he had ordered Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft to make specific recommendations to end racial profiling.
“Too many of our citizens have cause to doubt our nation’s justice when the law points a finger of suspicion at groups instead of individuals,” Bush said. “All our citizens are created equal and must be treated equally.”
While the core of his talk revolved around the budget, Bush also listed other prominent items in his early agenda, including reforming the education system, enacting a patients’ bill of rights, overhauling the military and creating a new energy policy.
“America is a nation at peace, but not a nation at rest,” Bush said. “Much has been given to us and much is expected. Let us agree to bridge old divides. But let us also agree that our goodwill must be dedicated to great goals.”
Bush began preparing for the speech last week and appeared far more comfortable than he did at a news conference last week. Karen Hughes, a top adviser and communication specialist, visited him at Camp David to confer on the speech, and Bush conducted two full-length rehearsals Tuesday in the White House theater.
The president had started using the speech as a catalyst for his budget plan even before he delivered it. Bush met with the nation’s governors and convened a Cabinet meeting Monday to discuss the spending plan, and Tuesday he lunched with television news anchors and strategized with Republican lawmakers.
The White House will continue this push in the next few weeks. Vice President Richard Cheney and several Cabinet secretaries will be deployed to speak around the country and give interviews to local newspapers.
Such crusades have become routine for presidents trying to pressure lawmakers to pass controversial plans. For Bush it is a virtual necessity, since the Senate is split 50-50–with several Republicans already expressing reservations about his proposal–and the GOP has just a nine-vote margin in the House.
