Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ Congress has nothing but a history of undoing tax cuts once they're in there. Congress has often raised taxes. Let me remind you that it was in 1993 that Congress raised taxes to 36 percent, and to 39.6 percent. Those were increases from the rate which was established in 1986. The issue that Congress is never able to do is undo spending increases. Spending increases, once enacted, seem to never get taken back. The problem with Washington is that once Congress and Washington spend the money, they don't stop spending it. ”

“ There were warnings at that time from President Clinton that the energy problems could cause a recession. So that is a very serious ongoing problem that we need to face. I think there are two issues involved here -- one is the nation's need to enact a long-term, comprehensive energy plan, which President Bush has proposed. The other is helping California with its energy problem, which is of a different nature. I think that it's safe to say even if there was no national energy problem, California would still be going through what it's going through. ”

“ Economists do differ about the speed of which a tax cut can impact an economy, although I do believe Chairman Greenspan also did talk about accelerating the tax cut, if I read that -- I read it quickly on my way in here. ”

“ He's saying that -- the President has said that the tax cut is necessary now, as a stimulus to the economy. Greenspan is saying, usually it doesn't work out when you try to provide a stimulus, because it takes too long both to phase in, according to the President's plan, and by the time Congress gets done with it, especially in this kind of economy that's gyrating the way it is, that it really won't work to provide that kind of stimulus. ”

“ In all cases, people have to follow the law. But it is President Bush's position that -- he hires people on the basis of their ability to do the job. That's the sole criteria he uses. This was discussed extensively during the campaign, and he'll hire people, regardless of their background, so long as they're qualified to do a job. ”

“ Q Ari, on Greenspan, one of the things that Greenspan said in addition to endorsing tax cuts is that the economy is probably at a near standstill right now. I think he said the words, probably near zero growth. Are there additional steps that the administration wants or needs to take to address that more quickly than cutting taxes? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think it's important to focus on a couple items, but they're long-term in nature. One of them is education. ”

“ The Chairman, in his remarks, did talk about softness in the economy, and the Chairman in his remarks did talk about -- and this is one of the Chairman's reasons for cutting taxes, he did talk about the fact that there is room in the surplus. ”

“ Well, I think it's too soon to start discussing what he would accept or not accept. He is going to fight for all of it. And he's very optimistic that he's going to get all of it or virtually all of it. ”

“ As a result of that action in 1993, we have protected the child credit doubling, from $500 to $1,000, from the impact of the alternative minimum tax. So the new credits in the President's proposal are protected from the AMT. There is an additional AMT problem that is widely recognized that affects individuals. There is corporate AMT, as well. And that is a worthy area to discuss with the Congress. Q Can I ask you a question about hiring practices? This administration's policy that it is appropriate or inappropriate to ask a perspective employee his or her sexual orientation? ”

“ And we're heartened to see -- Q But, Ari, the question is, does the President disagree with Greenspan on the ability of his tax cut to stimulate the economy in the short term? MR. FLEISCHER: I think there's plenty of room for agreement among economists or slight disagreement among economists about the speed at which a tax cut can help the economy. ”

“ And we're going to continue to monitor it and see what the economy does. I would remind you that Vice President Cheney warned about this; many other people in our administration have been warning about this, and people said to us that we were not giving accurate information. With every passing day, it looks like President Bush's admonitions about the strength of the economy are increasingly true. Q Ari, what can you tell us about tomorrow, how the President plans to round out Education Week, what he's got planned? ”

“ Q So, as I understand, faith-based and prescription drugs, both proposals going to the Hill next week? MR. FLEISCHER: Next week. Q On that subject, Ari, will the proposals that the President sends to the Hill next week track very closely with his campaign proposals in those two areas, or will there be differences? MR. FLEISCHER: They will. The President made a series of promises during the campaign and he's going to honor them. Q No substantial differences? MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct. Q We should expect the helping hand proposal? ”