WASHINGTON — President Bush proposed a $60-billion package of tax cuts Friday to help rejuvenate the economy, rejecting Democrats' appeals to spur a recovery with more spending.
The tax cuts would come on top of $60 billion in emergency spending programs already approved by Congress or proposed by Bush since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, bringing the total stimulus package to $120 billion.
"In order to stimulate the economy, Congress doesn't need to spend any more money; what they need to do is to cut taxes," the president said.
The president's tax proposals would come on top of the huge tax cut enacted earlier this year, among whose provisions were the rebate checks of up to $600 that were mailed to taxpayers this summer. That tax package will cost the Treasury an estimated $1.35 trillion over 10 years.
The Bush proposal appeared to meet the prescription suggested by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said that any economic stimulus package should be quick, large and temporary.
The urgent need for action was underscored with Friday's jobless report, which showed a loss of 199,000 jobs in September even before the terrorist attacks. That was the worst job loss in more than a decade. Though the unemployment report was unchanged at 4.9%, that was described as a statistical fluke.
But it remains to be seen whether further tax cuts would spur spending by consumers. The tax rebate checks mailed out in August and September appeared to have little effect on the overall economy because many people didn't spend the money.
Bush's new plan is certain to face opposition on Capitol Hill, where Democrats want to devote more resources to emergency spending and have expressed reservations about some of Bush's specific tax cut priorities.
The dispute over stimulus strategies came as Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was preparing to tell his counterparts from other big industrial nations today that they should do more to keep the world economy from sliding into recession.
Bush announced the particulars of his new tax package with little advance warning, standing at the edge of the White House Rose Garden with O'Neill and Vice President Dick Cheney at his side. The plan's four elements would:
* Accelerate the provisions of the $1.35-trillion tax cut that have not already taken effect.
* Send rebates to low- and moderate-income taxpayers who didn't receive rebate checks earlier this year because their tax bills were too low or they paid no taxes.
