Don Nickles: “Last night President Bush spoke before a joint session of Congress and outlined his agenda in many areas-- certainly in…”

“Last night President Bush spoke before a joint session of Congress and outlined his agenda in many areas-- certainly in education, in preserving and saving Social Security, and Medicare. He challenged Congress. He also made a very strong case for reducing our taxes. He said: We can pay down the debt, we can fund our priorities, pay down the debt to the maximum amount practical--in other words, retire every bond that would mature between now and the year 2010--pay down the debt as much as possible, and we can still give significant tax relief. Some people said that is not enough. Some people said it is too much. The President said it is about right. I happen to agree with him. To my colleagues on the Democrat side who responded and said: We would agree to a $900 billion tax cut but we can't go for the $1.6 trillion tax cut--when we talk figures, I think it is important we talk policy and not just figures. The policy--and the bulk and the essence of what President Bush is pushing for--is reductions in marginal rates, reducing tax rates for taxpayers. Some have said: Wait a minute. This is a greater dollar benefit for higher income people. But the fact is the Presidents proposal cuts the rates more for lower income people than it does for those people with a higher income level. Unfortunately, some people, when taxes are discussed, want to play class warfare. They want to rob Peter to pay Paul. They want to use the Tax Code as a method of income redistribution.”