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Bush plan would cut
$600 billion in taxes
Diego Ibarguen, Jodi Enda
and Ken Moritsugu
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WASHINGTON — President Bush
will propose Tuesday to stimulate the
economy by eliminating the tax on
stock dividends and by cutting taxes
this year for nearly 100 million tax
payers, at a cost of some $600 billion
to the federal Treasury over 10 years.
The president also will call for up to
$3,000 each in new subsidies to the
unemployed to help them cover ex
penses such as childcare and trans
portation while they look for work.
Bush’s speech before the Econom
ic Club of Chicago will sound the of
ficial opening bell of a debate over
economic policy that is expected to
dominate Washington domestic poli
cy until summer. The outcome not
only will affect the jobs and incomes
of ordinary Americans, but also will
color political conditions leading
into the president’s campaign to win
re-election in 2004.
Democrats in the House of Repre
sentatives jumped the gun Monday
by releasing their own stimulus plan,
a $136 billion proposal that would
extend unemployment benefits, pro
vide tax rebates of up to $600 per
working couple, allow small busi
nesses to write off more expenses
and give states extra money for
homeland security, Medicaid and
highways. They said their proposal
would create at least 1 million jobs,
and would be fairer and much less
expensive than Bush’s program.
Rep. John Spratt of South Caroli
na, the ranking Democrat on the
House Budget Committee, said the
Democratic plan was designed to
give the economy an immediate
boost in 2003-04 and not to add sig
nificandy to long-term debt. Over 10
years, he said, their plan would even
recoup some money and cost only
$100 billion.
Senate Republicans also moved
quickly on their first day back in
Washington after the holidays. In
coming Majority Leader Bill Frist, R
Tenn., said he planned to bring a 13
week extension of unemployment
benefits for jobless workers to floor
debate Tuesday and hoped the presi
dent would be able to sign it into law
by the end of the week. That would
require House passage as well.
One late addition to Bush’s pack
age seems tailored to help him re
but critics who say his approach fa
vors the rich; White House aides
confirmed Monday night that the
president also will call for creation
of “re-employment accounts” of up
to $3,000 each to help the unem
ployed find jobs.
Independent economic analysts
said a well-constructed stimulus
package could boost economic
growth in the second half of 2003
and guard against the risk of a slide
back into recession. Analysts said
they expected Congress to approve a
final compromise that would inject
$50 billion to $100 billion into the
economy in 2003.
It’s not just the size of any stimu
lus package that matters, it’s also its
makeup. If money from a tax cut is
saved instead of spent, it adds little
to economic growth. To succeed,
stimulus measures need to take ef
feet quickly and to focus on encour
aging spending, analysts said.
Analysts said accelerating tax cuts
that now are set for 2004 and 2006,
as Bush is expected to endorse,
could help, although much of the
benefit would go to upper-income
people, who are less likely to spend
tax savings. That raises political
reservations about social equity and
economic ones about the move’s
utility in stimulating the economy.
To boost spending quickly, econo
mists generally favor directing mon
ey to lower-income groups, because
they are more likely to spend it for
necessities.
Eliminating the dividend taxes
that shareholders pay is at the cen
ter of the president’s plan. The ad
ministration says eliminating taxes
on dividends — costing the Trea
sury' #300 billion over 10 years —
could benefit 35 million investors,
nearly one-third of them senior cit
izens, and boost stock prices by up
to 10 percent.
Independent analysts don’t think
a dividend tax cut would do much
for short-term growth. The largest
beneficiaries would be wealthy
households, which are less likely to
spend the money. Also, the impact
would be delayed until 2004 for
those who don’t adjust their in
come-tax withholding and simply
take the benefit when they file
their 2003 taxes.
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
information Services. Knight Ridder
Newspapers correspondent James
Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.
U.S. may end protections for
many streams, wetlands
Seth Borenstein
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WASHINGTON — The Bush ad
ministration is on the verge of ex
empting more than one-third of the
nation’s waterways from federal
rules that protect them from pollu
tion, according to environmental
and business activists.
Isolated wetlands and smaller
streams that occasionally go dry
would no longer get protection un
der the 30-year-old Glean Water Act
because the administration is plan
ning to change the definition of pro
tected waterways, many activists
say. The Environmental Protection
Agency would not comment.
The waters to be left unprotect
ed “are crucial to the quality of
larger waterways,” said Bob Perci
asepe, a former water-regulatory
chief in the Clinton administration
and current senior vice president
of the National Audubon Society, a
conservation group.
Environmentalists say the admin
istration’s expected proposals would
allow between 35 percent and 60
percent of the nation’s waterways to
be polluted, or even filled in, without
federal intervention. Agriculture and
real estate interests say that state
governments would continue to reg
ulate these waterways, but they con
cede that state rules are generally
less burdensome for them than fed
eral standards.
Some say that the Bush adminis
tration is right in limiting definitions
of waterways. Jerry Taylor, natural
resources director of the Cato Insti
tute, a libertarian think-tank, said:
“The assertion that every little wet
spot in the ground is some ecological
crown jewel is simply nonsense.”
Even as EPA weighs its rules
changes, expected any day, a sepa
rate federal science study issued
Monday found that the small water
ways are more important to the
health of the nation’s water system
than previously understood.
The issue turns on the definition
of what the Glean Water Act pro
tects. It regulates pollution in “navi
gable waters,” “other waters” and
waterways that affect migrating
birds. For more than a decade, fed
eral regulators said that the Act ap
plied not only to major bodies of wa
ter, but also to smaller tributaries
that flow into them, and to small
patches of “isolated wetlands” dis
tant from large rivers as well.
Two years ago the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled that so-called “isolated
wetlands” were not covered under
the migratory birds provisions of the
Clean Water Act. About 20 to 30 per
cent of the nation’s wetlands fall into
this category, Perciasepe said.
One change the EPA is weighing
would conclude that the so-called
“intermittent waterways” — streams
and creeks that dry up in summer —
would no longer get federal protec
tion. About 60 percent of the na
tion’s waterways would be affected,
according to EPA data.
In a related development, the U.S.
Geological Survey released its mas
sive study Monday showing that the
nation’s waters flow faster than in
the 1970s and that these smaller wa
ters connect more to larger water
ways than formerly understood, said
David Wolock, a USGS hydrologist
who did the study. Allow pollution
into the smaller streams, he said,
and it will flow into larger rivers.
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
Toastmasters
continued from page 1
whole sections of their speech.
“A lot of them get up there and get
scared because they have all these
sets of eyes on them,” Herr said.
Besides giving students more
confidence for presenting speech
es in class, Magaro said Toastmas
ters can also help students dazzle
prospective employers during in
terviews. She added the club uses
Table Topic speeches to teach par
ticipants how to think on their feet
in the same way they would be ex
pected to do in an interview.
Magaro said the Toastmasters ex
perience is even more popular with
businesses than universities, and
there are several other chapters of
the organization in Eugene alone,
including one at Sacred Heart Med
ical Center. However, she added
joining Toastmasters at the Univer
sity level would be the smartest
course for students.
Herr said that Toastmasters goes
beyond just public speaking, claim
ing that the group also fosters self
confidence that allows members to
develop better personal and social
speaking skills, using his own DJ job
at The Annex as an example.
“Toastmasters deals with so
much more than just giving speech
es,” Herr said. “It teaches you how
you should be talking with people,
even for simple individual one-on
one conversation.”
Contact the reporter
atjenniferbear@dailyemerald.com.