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Gephardt blasts Bush on economyCalls for $75 billion tax rebate to boost economy
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt blasted the Bush administration's handling of the economy Tuesday, calling for $75 billion in tax rebates to counter "the vacuum of Republican inaction." "America faces a clear and present danger to the economic life of working families," Gephardt, D-Missouri, told a Washington think tank. "But all this president and the Republican House have offered is an extremist ideology of trickle-down economics and ineffective gimmicks." Gephardt called for $75 billion in one-time tax rebates aimed at families and $125 billion in spending on school construction, anti-terrorism projects and health care. He proposed raising the minimum wage by $1.50 an hour by 2004, to $6.65, and extending unemployment benefits for workers who have lost jobs during the current slowdown. With midterm elections just three weeks away, Democrats have tried to steer debate away from the confrontation with Iraq toward economic issues they hope will give them some leverage in congressional races. "In the vacuum of Republican inaction on the economy, Democrats must lead," he said. Gephardt said tax cuts and infrastructure spending would be short-term measures designed to stimulate the economy; for the long run, he proposed a bipartisan summit to find ways to bring the federal budget back into balance. He also called for cracking down on offshore corporate tax loopholes and other measures he said would save $100 billion a year; overhauling corporate executives' stock option and severance packages; and making employee pensions portable. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was noncommittal about the proposals, saying Gephardt's proposed tax rebates were "an interesting idea." Ignoring political points"We don't agree with everything that he said. Certainly the political points of his speech, we just don't pay attention to," Fleischer said. But we want to continue to work with Democrats and Republicans alike on the substantive issues that are moving on the Hill."
He defended the tax cuts Bush fought to pass in 2001, which Gephardt criticized for bringing back federal deficits. Fleischer said the cuts have helped the economy recover. Gephardt called Bush's economic record "as bad as any president's in the last 70 years," and said the White House and congressional Republicans don't recognize how serious the slowdown has become. "This Republican Congress should be remembered as the 'air-conditioned Congress' -- happy inside its chamber, but not in touch with the conditions out in our country," Gephardt said. "The American people have a chance this year to pick a new team for Congress and make the economy a higher priority. I hope they will."
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"This Republican Congress should be remembered as the 'air-conditioned Congress' -- happy inside its chamber, but not in touch with the conditions out in our country."
