Thomas Daschle: “the President talks about his plan providing 92 million Americans with an average tax reduction of $1,083, and yet with…”

“the President talks about his plan providing 92 million Americans with an average tax reduction of $1,083, and yet with closer scrutiny and attention, with a more careful review of the facts, we find that is not the case at all. That is like Bill Gates and Tom Daschle averaging their income. If he and I averaged our income, mine would be somewhere around $39 billion. I only wish I had $39 billion to average with Bill Gates, but I do not. But that is the method this President is using to provide these average numbers with regard to the beneficiaries of his tax cut. Here are the facts: 78 percent of Americans are going to get less than $1,000, and over half of all taxpayers will get less than $100 under the President's plan. That is right, less than $100. That is all more than half of all taxpayers will receive under the President's plan. That is fact. That is a credibility gap. That is saying one thing and doing another. That is saying the average American gets $1,000 but actually, in fact, the average American is going to get under $100. There is a credibility gap across the board. He said his plan will create 1.4 million jobs by the end of 2004. According to the same report President Bush cites by macroeconomic advisers of St. Louis, his tax cuts actually have the potential to harm the economy in the long run, but the President did not mention any references to those parts of the report stated later on.”