Bush: 'We're Upbeat' About Economy
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,94592,00.html
CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush said Wednesday "we're upbeat" about the economy despite soaring budget deficits and a frustratingly high unemployment rate.
Bush credited two rounds of major of tax cuts with stabilizing the economy after recession and corporate scandals. He said he had no plans now for another tax-cutting program.
The president spoke to reporters on his ranch after meeting for two hours with his senior economic advisers.
"We believe strongly that tax relief ... is going to have a very positive effect on economic growth and vitality," as well as helping create more jobs, Bush said. "We're upbeat about the chances."
Democrats and some economists say budget deficits (search) building up under the administration's policy are perilous for the long term. And a new poll suggests three-fourths of the public consider the current national deficit a problem.
Bush, asked about the possibility of new tax cuts, said, "As of this moment, we feel the plans we have in place are robust enough."
Bush was updated by Treasury Secretary John Snow (search), Commerce Secretary Don Evans (search), Labor Secretary Elaine Chao (search) and other advisers.
Bush said that if had he not lowered taxes, the recession would have been deeper, causing more lost jobs.
"I'm more concerned about that than I about economic theory and economic numbers," he said.
Asked about his projected $455 billion budget deficit, Bush said, "I look forward to taking this debate on."
The deficit was a result of "tough decisions" he had made in the face of recession and terror attacks, the president said.
A Washington Post poll released Tuesday evening found 73 percent think the budget deficit is a problem and 23 percent think it is not. Just over half, 52 percent, said Bush bears a good amount of responsibility for the deficit. The poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
The nation's unemployment rate stood at 6.2 percent in July, businesses cut jobs for the sixth month in a row, and the administration announced this summer that in part because of the weak economy, the annual budget deficit would soar to $455 billion this year and $475 billion in 2004, both records in dollar terms.
The Federal Reserve (search) held a key short-term interest rate at a 45-year low on Tuesday and signaled its intention to keep credit easy "for a considerable period." Reports on retail sales and inventories Wednesday, were encouraging, however.
Several critics of Bush's economic policies said Tuesday that short-term improvements in the economy shouldn't cloak the dangers of the growing federal deficit.
"The Bush policy is the worst policy in the last 200 years," said George A. Akerlof, a 2001 Nobel laureate in economics. "Within 10 years we are going to pay a serious price for such irresponsibility."
Akerlof took part in a conference call in which economists, including former Clinton advisers Gene Sperling and Laura D'Andrea Tyson, said Bush's tax cuts were not stimulating the economy and were producing structural deficits that would hurt over the long run.
Democratic presidential candidates have seized on the economy as a key issue to use against Bush, who seems less vulnerable on issues like foreign policy and fighting terrorism. |
