White House Announces Tax Cut Delays

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

20 September 2002

White House Budget Chief, Mitch Daniels announced Wednesday that the second package of tax cuts promised by President Bush in August is likely to be delayed as a result of the forthcoming congressional elections, mounting budget deficits, and the prospect of a war against Iraq.

Mr Daniels revealed that the calendar of other business which Congress must deal with before lawmakers leave Washington and hit the campaign trail is 'crowded'. He also announced that the President 'has not seen a measure or package of measures that meets all his tests', adding: 'The President is not into idle gestures'.

Coming just seven weeks before control of Congress will be decided by US voters, this announcement was a godsend for Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle, as it gave him the opportunity to criticise the Bush administration's economic record once again.

Speaking earlier this week, Mr Daschle pointed to 'a very unfortunate, some would even say tragic economic trend in this country', citing the fact that the economy has grown by just 1%, and that stock market values have lost around $4.5 trillion as examples of this.

'They have one economic all-purpose antidote for everything, and that is tax cuts, tax cuts largely dedicated to those at the very top,' he alleged.

However, top-ranking Republicans have responded to Mr Daschle's accusations by suggesting that the upper house has done little to address the aforementioned issues under his leadership, and Mr Daniels on Wednesday accused the Democrat Senate Majority Leader of 'a total default of leadership'.

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