Bush attempts to counter charges of economic ruin

US President George W. Bush gathered top advisers at his ranch yesterday to talk up his efforts to boost the economy and try to come up with an election-year strategy to counter Democratic charges his policies are putting the country on the road to ruin.

No major new initiatives are likely to be put forward beyond already enacted tax cuts, which Democrats desperate to win back the executive mansion in 2004 say do far more harm than good by driving the federal debt into the stratosphere.

Treasury Secretary John Snow, Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, budget director Joshua Bolten, the president's top economic adviser Stephen Friedman and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card met Bush at his ranch in Texas.

"The president is very committed to the economy, to working to boost economic growth, to create jobs for every American who wants a job," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan told reporters on Tuesday.

"He did propose some very aggressive and bold actions to address those issues earlier this year which have just been enacted and are just beginning to really flow through to the economy."

The Bush administration credits his US$350 billion package of corporate-dividend tax cuts and business-investment incentives passed earlier this year for the unexpectedly brisk 2.4 percent annual growth rate recorded for the economy in the second quarter, up from 1.4 percent in the first quarter.

But analysts say that is still below the pace needed to create jobs, more than 2 million of which have disappeared from the US economy since Bush became president.

Bush still hopes to get provisions left out of this year's tax cut bill, such as US$3,000 "re-employment accounts," passed by Congress, and contentious energy legislation lawmakers will try to finalize when they reconvene in September.

Buchan said the economic team would also discuss other measures Bush believes are necessary to create the momentum for job creation, including limits on damage awards to lawsuit plaintiffs and spending restraints.

But Democrats lining up as 2004 challengers say Bush's tax cuts, which they claim are skewed toward the wealthy, have done far less to create jobs and stimulate the economy than measures to help low and middle-income Americans would have done.

And they blame the reappearance of federal budget deficits on Bush's watch, projected to be US$455 billion this year, on the tax cuts, saying they jeopardize the country's fiscal credibility as well as prospects for future investment and economic growth.