Bush Considers More Tax Cuts As Economic Fears Grow

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

07 January 2008

President Bush may counter the threat of a recession in the US this year with an economic stimulus package that could contain a new round of tax cuts, according to reports.

Bush was scheduled to meet with key members of the administration's economic team on Friday, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke, to discuss economic policy options for 2008, with the President keen to avoid an economic crisis in his final year in office.

Bush has used tax cuts to steer the US economy out of trouble in the past, and Washington observers believe that he is likely to do so again before his second term expires, but for the moment the President is playing his cards close to his chest, revealing only that he and his economic advisors are exploring a number of avenues, of which tax cuts are just one.

“In terms of any stimulus package, we’re considering all options,” Bush told Reuters in an interview, adding: "We are listening to a lot of good ideas from different people."

However, Bush’s counselor, Ed Gillespie, revealed to reporters aboard Air Force One as the President returned to Washington from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, that ensuring his tax cuts are written into law permanently would be a top priority.

“We shouldn’t have the economy and consumers and investors wonder whether or not those tax cuts will expire. That’s not healthy at a time when we cannot take economic growth for granted,” he was reported to have stated.

While Bush is due to give an economic speech in Chicago on Monday, it is thought that he won't reveal the direction of his economic agenda for 2008 until he returns from a week-long trip to the Middle East, beginning Tuesday, although Bush himself has stated that he is unlikely to reveal new policy details until State of the Union address at the end of the month.

"It will be a number of weeks before the president makes a decision," confirmed White House spokesman Tony Fratto, adding: "There will be some additional data coming in the next few weeks, and the president has said he won't make any decisions until it gets much closer to the State of the Union."

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