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Politics : Those Damned Democrat's -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tadsamillionaire who wrote (81)	5/21/2002 1:25:35 PM
From: Tadsamillionaire	Respond to of 1604

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman yesterday urged Congress to postpone costly provisions of President Bush's tax cut scheduled to take effect in future years, leaping into a fractious political debate that nearly all the other potential 2004 Democratic presidential candidates so far have avoided. Lieberman charged that the Bush administration has undermined the economic policies of the Clinton administration, which helped produce record economic growth in the 1990s, accusing the president of passivity and a "leadership deficit" that he said has helped put the budget back into deficit and inhibited a more robust recovery. "His economic plan could fit on the back of a shampoo bottle: 'Cut taxes, increase spending, borrow, repeat,' " Lieberman (D-Conn.) said in the text of a speech to the Detroit Economic Club. "If he keeps repeating that plan, he will surely endanger Social Security benefits and slow our economy to a halt, just when we need the most economic strength we can muster to fight and win the war on terrorism." Many other Democrats have challenged Bush's economic policies, but only a few have called for forgoing those provisions of the 2001 tax cut that are scheduled to be phased in between now and the end of the decade, fearing that Republicans will accuse them of reverting to the "tax and spend" policies that hurt the Democrats politically in the 1980s. Lieberman said he favors postponing the implementation of three of the "most expensive and least progressive" elements of Bush's tax cut: the reduction in the top tax rate paid by the wealthiest Americans; the full repeal of the estate tax; and a provision that would have prevented elimination of the personal exemption and limited itemized deductions for upper-bracket taxpayers. Anticipating GOP criticism, Lieberman sought to shield himself from attacks by saying, "Read my lips: keeping current tax rates is not a tax increase." Lieberman's advisers said postponing the three provisions would save an estimated $500 billion over 10 years, money that Lieberman said could be used to help put the federal budget back in balance, pay down debt and deal with looming financial problems facing the Social Security system as the baby boom generation nears retirement. In his speech, a text of which was made available in Washington, Lieberman said he favored some new tax cuts, including a targeted cut in the capital gains tax, but his staff could not put a price tag on the cost of those proposals. He also said he favored capping non-defense discretionary spending at no more than the rate of inflation to help reduce the projected deficit. Yesterday's speech was another in a series critical of Bush that Lieberman has delivered this spring as he explores a presidential candidacy in 2004. The party's 2000 vice presidential nominee has said he will not run for president if former vice president Al Gore decides to run again in two years, but he has been taking steps to prepare for a campaign if Gore backs out. The most prominent Democrat to call for postponing future tax cuts is Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.), but among those thinking of running for president in 2004, only Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has staked out a similar position. Many Democratic strategists say Bush's tax and budget priorities will be central issues in 2004, but most prominent Democrats have remained silent about the potentially controversial idea of deferring tax cuts as the parties prepare for November's elections. washingtonpost.com