President Bush's Pre-Budget Address To Congress

Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

28 February 2001

President George Bush yesterday addressed the US Congress, in his most formal statement yet of the administration's plans for the economy, including of course the famous package of tax-cuts, but also covering his education proposals and plans for a partial privatization of the Social Security entitlement program.

The speech was a prelude to today's release of an outline of the federal budget for the 2002 fiscal year. The full budget will be released in April.

Mr. Bush said an era of surpluses would allow the federal government to reduce taxes and yet still spend all that it needed to on education, prescription drugs and social programs. The result, Mr. Bush said, would be a government balanced between a constructive involvement in people's lives and an equally beneficial detachment from them.

"Government has a role, and an important role," Mr. Bush said, "Yet too much government crowds out initiative and hard work, private charity and the private economy. Our new governing vision says government should be active, but limited; engaged, but not overbearing."

Democrat minority leaders Richard A. Gephardt and Tom Daschle of South Dakota appeared on television shortly after the President's speech to put a contrary view. "If what the president said tonight sounded too good to be true, it probably is," said Richard Gephardt, "President Bush's budget numbers simply don't add up. Ours do. His plan leaves no money for anything except tax cuts. Ours does."

Tom Daschle claimed that the true cost of the tax cut was more than $2,000bn. He compared the president's budget to what has happened in Texas, where large tax cuts have turned a surplus into a deficit in just two years. "If his budget predictions now are as faulty as they were then, his tax cut would bring back huge deficits, increase the national debt and put our economy back in the ditch," said Mr Daschle.

But Mr Bush's strong and sometimes humorous presentation probably won the night: "Yogi Berra once said, `When you come to a fork in the road, take it,' " quoted the President, "Now we come to a fork in the road. We have two choices. Even though we have already met our needs, we could spend the money on more and bigger government. That's the road our nation has traveled in recent years. Last year, government spending shot up 8 percent. . . . The other choice is to let the American people spend their own money to meet their own needs. I hope you will join me in standing firmly on the side of the people."

Click here for the Full Text of President Bush's Speech to Congress

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