Bush's Tax Cut Takes a Hit in Senate

Bush began this year by unveiling his $725-billion, 11-year tax cut plan aimed at increasing business investment and consumer spending. Then he added another round of tax cuts to his budget proposal, including an expansion of tax-free savings accounts. That brought the total tax relief he was seeking to $1.6 trillion, an amount many lawmakers -- including Republicans -- viewed as out of touch with deficit qualms in Congress.

The budget resolution approved by the House provided crucial parliamentary protections only for the $725-billion economic growth plan -- a maneuver viewed as the death knell for the rest of Bush's proposed tax cuts.

And in the Senate, Bush critics focused their efforts on trimming the $725-billion economic plan because it was the only tax cut considered likely to become law.

On Friday, a bid to trim the tax cut to $350 billion lost on a 62-38 vote. However, the roll call obscured how close the vote really was. Many Democrats were prepared to support the amendment, but they switched to vote against it when it became clear it would narrowly fail.

Baucus and Sen. John B. Breaux (D-La.), a lead sponsor of the amendment, said the effort to find another, more successful version of the proposal was helped by mounting concern about the cost of the Iraq war.

"We've never cut taxes in time of war," Baucus said.

When Baucus and Breaux brought the measure back Tuesday, they had rewritten it to specify that the money taken away from the tax cut would be set aside to pay for reforming Social Security. That was enough to win over support from Democratic Sens. Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina and Tom Harkin of Iowa, both of whom voted against the first amendment because they did not support any tax cut.

That cleared the way for the amendment to be backed by every Democrat but Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, who supports Bush's plan but was absent for Tuesday's roll call.