Berkley: Wartime tax cuts a myth

Benjamin Grove

Monday, March 24, 2003 | 10:57 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Politicians this week are expected to turn their attention to paying the bills for the war in Iraq.

President Bush was expected to submit a supplemental budget request as early as today for about $80 billion to cover war costs.

The Senate will consider that request alongside Bush's $726 billion tax cut plan. The tax cut proposal is part of the $2.2 trillion federal budget proposal Bush sent to Congress in February.

As lawmakers face budget deficits, something has to give, said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

"To continue to perpetuate this myth that we can afford to give tax cuts to people who don't need them and don't want them is insane," Berkley said today.

The House last week approved Bush's tax cut plan, but it is subject to negotiations with the Senate. Berkley voted against it. Democrats say the tax cuts disproportionately favor the wealthy. Berkley said approving such large tax cuts with a war under way was "sheer lunacy."

Nevada Republican Reps. Jon Porter and Jim Gibbons voted for the Bush budget and tax cuts.

"We need to let moms and dads decide for themselves how to spend their funds, and that will stimulate the economy. Until we have economic growth, our deficits are not going to change," Porter said.

Bush is unlikely to get the full tax cut package because the Senate has cast a critical eye at the proposal. In its first major revision, the Senate last week narrowly approved an agreement to reduce Bush's $726 billion tax cut by at least $100 billion, which would be set aside to pay for the war.

It's not yet known how many tax cuts the Senate can stomach, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.

"We'll have to wait and see how it goes," Reid said.

Senators are expected to vote on as many as 40 amendments to the Bush budget before a possible budget vote Wednesday, Reid said.

Berkley said she expects congressional support for the war will not waiver as the conflict drags on and more bad news emerges, as it did over the weekend. Berkley said it was always fantasy to believe that the war would be an easy victory for the United States.

"This is going to be a difficult military operation," Berkley said.

Porter said that troubling news from Iraq over the weekend had not dented the support of constituents he has heard from in the last day or two.

"Now more than ever they're supporting the troops," he said.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., on Friday said the bombs falling on Baghdad as part of the military's shock and awe campaign were reminders of the horrors of war.

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.