Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ Q Ari, related to all of this, your old boss, Pete Domenici, said today that it's monetary policy, it's a rate cut that is actually the best short-term fixer, his word, for the recession in the economy, also his word today. Which seems to suggest that even though there's a belief that a tax cut could be a more permanent fix, what do we do in the short term for an economy that continues to slow down, consumer confidence is again down, and as the President outlined today, energy costs are starting to put the squeeze on people? ”

“ Q Ari, you took Social Security out of the surplus for what's in play as far as the budget and taxes. Are you also doing the same with the Medicare surplus, or is that in play as far as the tax cut goes? MR. FLEISCHER: As far as Medicare is concerned, the President believes that every dollar of Medicare should be used for Medicare. In other words, if we can use the Medicare surplus to help get prescription drugs to seniors, we ought to do that, as opposed to use Medicare money to pay off bonds or to pay money to bond holders. ”

“ The President believes very strongly that taxes are too high and that the 15 percent bracket is too onerous on low-income Americans and needs to be reduced to 10 percent. He believes very strongly that no American should pay more than one-third of their income tax -- of their income to the government in the form of taxation. Q So he will insist that everybody gets tax relief. MR. FLEISCHER: Ron, that is what he believes in, that is what he ran on, that's what he's submitting to Congress, and that's what he's going to fight for. ”

“ Q Cutting the tax rate put more money in people's pockets sooner. MR. FLEISCHER: I just indicated that's one of the issues we're looking at in terms of retroactivity or changing the phase-in dates on tax cuts. The President does believe that can be an effective tool to help create confidence in the economy. Q Ari, in regard to Congress, you're saying that he will not insist on a single tax increase, and that he would defer to members -- leadership, the leaders in Congress to decide whether or not to break it up or to keep it as a whole? ”

“ In other words, the taxpayers will send the government $5.7 trillion more than the government needs to spend over the next 10 years. Approximately $2.5 trillion of that is Social Security money, which leaves approximately $3.2 trillion in surplus for other governmental needs beyond Social Security. ”

“ The President does want to make certain that our nation's Cabinet is in place. There are important civil rights laws that need to be enforced, there are important anticrime initiatives that need to be enforced, and all of that depends on having an attorney general in place, or it can be strengthened, of course, by having an attorney general in place and by allowing the attorney general to appoint the number twos and the number threes at a department. ”

“ Food safety is always an important issue. And as you are aware, there has been some developments on that front, and I would refer you to the Department of Agriculture and the FDA for more of the details on how the government is proceeding. ”

“ But it's always an important issue and is always something that government needs to concern itself with. Q Ari, may I follow up just on -- permits, also? Are you a beef eater, Ari? MR. FLEISCHER: Am I? Q Yes. MR. FLEISCHER: My personal eating habits will not be discussed from this podium, but than you for your concern. (Laughter.) Q Ari, is President Bush convinced he has all the Republican votes on the Ashcroft nomination, and does he expect to get some Democratic votes, or is he worried that the Democrats are consolidated in their opposition? ”

“ The tax cut people have indicated they believe will be about $1.6 trillion, is a figure that I've read in the press, over 10 years -- $1.6 trillion out of a $5.7 trillion surplus. There's plenty of room. Q Why don't Democrats seem willing to give you more than $800 million? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think we're going to have a lot of progress with the Democrats. Q Ari, in Europe children are dying of the mad cow disease, the human version of the disease. ”