President Bush threatened Wednesday to veto a Democratic budget resolution that he said would wreck the economy by imposing “the largest tax increase in American history.” Bush complained that the bill, passed before Congress adjourned for its August recess, includes $205 billion in unnecessary discretionary spending.
“That averages out to about $112 million per day; $4.7 million per hour; $78,000 per minute,” he said after meeting with economic advisers at the Treasury Department. “Put another way, it’s about $1,300 in higher spending every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every year for the next five years.”
The president vowed to block the spending measure, as well as Democratic tax increases to pay for it.
“Now look, I recognize the Democrats control the Congress, and with it, the power of the purse,” he said. “I also have some power, and it’s called the veto. And I have the votes in Congress to sustain vetoes, and therefore, I will use the veto to keep your taxes low andto keep federal spending under control.”
Bush was flanked by members of his economic team, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who on Friday tried to downplay recent turbulence on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 585 points last week, marking its worst week in five years, before recovering somewhat in the past three days.
“I take comfort from the underlying economic strength,” said Paulson, who urged investors to “step back” and look at the larger economic picture. “When there are big adjustments in markets based upon economic fundamentals, that’s one thing; but when you have economic fundamentals that are strong, that’s a better place to be.”
On Wednesday, Bush sought to further tout the “thriving economy.”
“Since 2003, our economy has added more than 8.3 million new jobs and almost four years of uninterrupted growth,” he said. “We continue to grow at a steady pace, and during the most recent quarter, it grew at an annual rate of 3.4 percent.
“Unemployment is low,” he added. “Real after-tax income has increased by an average of more than $3,400 per person since I took office.”
