Bush tells Chicago audience he still has prescription for healthy economy
Voicing optimism while acknowledging economic concerns, President Bush told a Chicago audience Monday that low taxes coupled with limited federal regulation remains the best prescription for a variety of ailments that have slowed the economy.
Bush, repeating familiar themes, called on Congress to make his earlier tax cuts permanent and to be disciplined in its spending.
"In less than three years, the tax cuts we passed are set to expire," Bush said. "That creates uncertainty. We don't need more uncertainty in an uncertain market."
The president drew applause from the business-oriented audience by saying: "I had a New Year's resolution and it was to make sure that Congress keeps taxes low and to make sure that when we spend your money, we do it wisely or not at all."
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Bush delivered his remarks to a private audience at the Union League Club of Chicago as national polls show that the economy has replaced Iraq as the No. 1 issue of the 2008 elections.
The president's call to make his tax cuts permanent, to end the estate tax and to minimize regulations on small business came on the heels of a report Friday that the nationwide unemployment rate climbed to 5 percent in December. That increase from 4.7 percent in November marked the largest one-month increase in the jobless rate in six years. The steep one-month increase has fueled worries that housing-sector woes are beginning to show up elsewhere in the economy.
Shaky economic news is not limited to employment figures. For the third consecutive month, wages failed to keep pace with inflation in December. Those factors have combined to build anticipation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates during its January meeting.
The president acknowledged Monday that recent economic indicators have contained some negative news. But he called the economy "resilient" and noted that it has recovered from earlier stumbling blocks, including terrorist attack, corporate scandals, war and natural disasters.
Bush also acknowledged growing concerns over rising energy prices, but said: "There is no quick fix. I signed good legislation passed by Republicans and Democrats to allow us to diversify away from oil and gas. That's good. But diversification isn't going to happen overnight."
He drew applause when he called for both domestic oil and gas exploration in environmentally friendly ways and on a role for nuclear power in meeting the nation's ongoing energy needs.
After Friday's unemployment report, the White House gave some indication that it might weigh in with more specific policy initiatives. If additional initiatives are in the works, Bush did not elaborate on them Monday. With only one year and two weeks remaining in his term and Americans increasingly focusing on the their choice for his successor, the president is running out of time to influence public opinion or Congress.
Candidates vying for the Democratic presidential nomination all pledge to steer sharply away from the Bush administration's economic policy course. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama all oppose extending Bush's tax cuts through 2010 for highest-income Americans but say they favor retaining cuts for lower- and middle-class taxpayers.
On the Republican side, presidential hopefuls Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson all favor making the Bush tax cuts permanent. Among candidates on both sides, Mike Huckabee has been out in front in proposing the sharpest departure from current tax policy. He calls for abolishing the federal income tax and replacing it with what advocates call the "Fair Tax," a national retail sales tax .
During his half-day swing through Chicago, the president also stopped at a Chicago elementary school, where he touted renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act. The president also hosted a private audience with Chicago-area business owners.
On his arrival at O'Hare Monday morning, the president gave a pin to Chicago resident Lou Praochelli, who works with the O'Hare USO.
"I said I was praying for him and the troops," Praochelli said after the presentation.
The O'Hare USO is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is designed to assist traveling military personnel and their families.
Suburban residents also were on hand for the president's arrival.
The Thompson family of St. Charles received an invitation to tour Air Force One, courtesy of a relative who is a White House military aide.
And Onkar Sangha of Elmhurst was among the dozen people who shook hands with the president. U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam called on Sangha, who helped with the Wheaton Republican's campaign, to help greet the president