Clinton aide admonishes (spanks) Bush for talking economy down for political gain. His inexperience is already showing and he is not even in office yet.
Al
===========================================================
Clinton Economic Aide Accuses Bush of
Stirring Fears
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top economic aide to President
Clinton (news - web sites) accused President-elect George W.
Bush (news - web sites) on Thursday of ''talking down'' the
U.S. economy for short-term partisan gain and to boost a
Republican tax cut plan.
``I think it sends a signal that he's willing to be political in
describing the economy, instead of serious and disciplined and
not political,'' White House economic adviser Gene Sperling said
in an interview on ABC's ``Good Morning America'' program.
In recent weeks Republicans allied with Bush, who will be
sworn in as the 43rd U.S. president on Jan. 20, have predicted
economic trouble ahead in what some analysts say is an effort to
justify sweeping tax cuts opposed by Democrats.
On Wednesday Bush said he saw ``warning signs of a possible
slowdown'' and tied economic prospects to his proposed
10-year, $1 trillion-plus tax cut.
``I believe strongly that tax relief is part of the prescription for
any economic ill that our nation may have,'' Bush told a news
conference.
And on Dec. 3, Vice President-elect Dick Cheney (news - web
sites) said: ``We may well be on the front edge of a recession
here.''
``What you're seeing is President-elect Bush and his team
actually talking down our economy, actually probably injecting
more fear and anxiety into the economy than is justified. And I
think that's a serious mistake for him,'' Sperling said.
``They may think they get a short-term political gain and that if
they say the economy is at risk of recession, they may feel that
that will justify a very large tax cut, which is one of their goals.
``But I think our lesson we've had is that in the long run, it's
better to show the public and the markets that you're serious
and you're non-political. And I think it's always a mistake for
anybody in a position of responsibility to be talking down their
own economy,'' Sperling added.
In a separate interview on CNN, he said Bush and Cheney may
be contributing to a loss of consumer and market confidence.
''It's a self-fulfilling prophesy,'' Sperling said.
While most experts are predicting growth of between 2.5
percent and 3.5 percent for the U.S. economy, Bush and
Cheney ''are out almost every day injecting more fear and
probably more anxieties in the economy than is warranted by
the facts,'' Sperling added.
He voiced hope that Bush's choice to head the Treasury
Department (news - web sites), Paul O'Neill -- chairman of the
aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. -- would nudge the president-elect
and Cheney to be ''a little more serious'' and ``a little less
political in talking about the economy.'' |
