Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ The real numbers are that the biggest percentage gainers in this tax plan are people at the middle and the low end of the income scale. They will benefit the most from President Bush's proposed tax cut. But what you have here is an old issue, where there are some Democrats who want to keep taxes high. That way they can spend more money. But I think what you're going to really see is a growing group -- a smaller group, it won't be all the Democrats, but there will be a smaller number of Democrats who want to work with us to cut taxes for all Americans. ”

“ For the President's proposed tax cut, those who make over $200,000 a year currently pay 41.8 percent of taxes. Under the Bush plan they will receive 26.9 percent of the tax cut. Those who make between $30,000 to $40,000 in taxes pay only 3 percent of all taxes. We have a very progressive tax code. People who make that amount of money, that's the amount of taxes they pay, they will get a tax cut that is almost twice the size of the percentage that they pay in. ”

“ No, the reason for the reform is because the Social Security system, given the demographic changes our nation is going through, or will shortly to through, will not be sustainable. And we need to have a system that will be able to honor the commitments made to our grandparents and to our grandchildren. Q Would it be sustainable if you applied the surplus to the problem? MR. FLEISCHER: The solution is to reform the system, not just to throw more money into a system that is vital. Q Ari, how committed is the President to holding the line on the size of his tax cut? ”

“ Q But if Congress doesn't act, is it going to be the position of this White House that the longer it doesn't act, the more Congress -- not the White House -- is jeopardizing the future of the U.S. economy? MR. FLEISCHER: Major, we have full faith that Congress will act, and we have received encouraging signs from people in both parties that Congress will, indeed, act. Q Back on the tax cuts, I just want to be clear. Every tax cut proposal President Bush made during the campaign will be sent to the Hill, including education IRAs, even if it wasn't in today's package? ”

“ If you look at the back page, the first $6,000 worth of income is lowered to 10 percent. If you make more than $6,000, you get your first $6,000 of income lowered from 15 percent to 10 percent, I remind you, as you know, as a progressive income tax code structure. Your premise is wrong. They would receive the benefits as low as 10 percent. Q The bulk of the money will not receive the lower tax rate. MR. FLEISCHER: No, the largest percentage gains will go to those people at the low end of the scale. And that's because we lower the rate from 15 percent to 10 percent. ”

“ Q There are a couple of other ideas that are gaining considerable attention within the Ways and Means Committee and Finance Committee about adding to this proposal. One deals with accelerating depreciation. There is a rather large and growing coalition on K Street involving some high-tech community members who are very interested in that, believe that would be very beneficial to them and the larger U.S. economy. There is also this issue that Republicans and Democrats have believed in their meetings with the President, have brought up about the alternative minimum tax. ”

“ What the President is saying to people is, we need to take down the toll booth to the middle class. Under the current tax code, if somebody makes, for example, $22,000 a year, and has two children -- Q No, single people between incomes of $6,000 and $26,000 a year, who will remain in the 15-percent tax bracket, is he saying they don't need a tax cut? ”

“ That way, businesses have the tools they need to innovate and discover new things that can be brought to the market. That provision has, unfortunately, lapsed several times in the past, which has created a lot of uncertainty and made it difficult for corporations to plan, and so that provision directly addresses that question. ”

“ Q Ari, on the tax cut, the Democrat leaders are up on the Hill today with a car and an automobile part, and they're saying that millionaires under the Bush plan would get a tax cut sufficient to buy a Lexus, and working people would get a tax cut sufficient to buy a muffler. ”

“ The President believes we need to rebuild our military and the force structure review is a part of doing that. In addition, the President's budget that he will submit will honor the campaign promises he made to increase pay for men and women who wear the uniform, as well as to improve the housing for the men and women who wear the uniform. ”

“ I think the fairer argument is that there are some tax-and-spend Democrats who every time they see a car start thinking about building a toll booth. And that's how they collect all these taxes. So that's our point of view. Q Ari, the President a few days ago said categorically that President Clinton or whichever President has the constitutional right to pardon anyone. The Republicans today are holding a hearing on Capitol Hill exactly about one of the pardons of President Clinton. ”

“ He's saying that people need to have money in their pockets to spend as they see fit. There will be some families who will use that money to pay for higher energy costs. Other families, like families we've visited this week, have said they'll use it to educate their children. ”

“ Q Ari, one thing on the Pennsylvania Avenue thing, which keeps getting kicked up by people. It's never clear to me, is this actually under review by the White House, or is -- just there's no decision has been made to reverse the current status? MR. FLEISCHER: There's no decision been made to reverse the current status. The President has met with the Secret Service. He's met with Mayor Williams. He's going to listen to people on all sides of this issue, and then if a decision -- whenever a decision is reached, we'll keep you informed. ”

“ Again, I think that's a matter for law enforcement. I haven't discussed it with the President. Q In his remarks this morning in the Rose Garden, the President appeared to be trying to create a sense of urgency about action on the tax cut, saying there's this warning light about the U.S. economy. Is that an effort prospectively to insulate the White House from whatever bad economic information may come about in the coming months, and shift that focus on to Congress as it deals with this tax cut? ”

“ I'll refer you to the law enforcement authorities to determine how that may have taken place. I'm not familiar with all the history of it. That's for the law enforcement people to deal with. Q The question is what's the President's view. ”

“ I think we always need more PR. Q The other question is, have you heard the President say anything negative about the Farmington meeting, in light of new reports that there's some feeling he was blindsided by Democrats who were too harsh? ”