August 09, 2007
Bush Stays Course On Iraq, Taxes & Torture
President Bush today addressed a varied list of topics -- ranging from the nation's bridges to corporate tax cuts to Iran -- ahead of a retreat to his family's compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.
The deeply unpopular leader kicked off the news conference, broadcast by all the networks along with cable, with one of the few bright spots of his administration: education. His initiatives in this arena have managed to receive bipartisan support, including the America Competes Act, which he will sign today. The bill boosts and expands science, technology, engineering and math education, as well as research and development.
"The American economy is the envy of the world and we need to keep it that way," Bush said in his opening remarks. "The bill I will sign today will help ensure we do remain the most competitive and innovative nation in the world."
As Bush was speaking, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was slip-siding after three days of record gains. French bank BNP Paribas announced this morning that it froze three funds because of concerns about the U.S. subprime lending market, reviving American investors' panic about volatility there.
Protesting that he was not an economist, Bush refused to detail what he thought should be done about the subprime lending problem, but did seem to draw the line at a federal bailout. He also said that because many of the defaulting homeowners "didn't understand what they were signing up for," it would be a "proper role for government to enhance education initiatives," and again pointed to the America Competes Act.
When reporters later turned the subject to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush muddled the picture as he's done in previous public statements. Asked to respond to a photo that showed al-Maliki holding hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran yesterday, Bush said, "Generally how these things work is you want to be cordial to the person you're with. You don't want to be duking it out.
"'Put up your dukes' -- it's an old boxing expression," he added, clenching his fists and imitating a boxer.
Al-Maliki met with Ahmadinejad to appeal for greater security and economic cooperation with Iran, which has been accused by the White House of fomenting the Shiite insurgency in Iraq. While all parties realize that Iran's help could be key to helping stabilize its war-ravaged neighbor, the Bush administration has taken a hard line on Tehran over its nuclear ambitions and calls for the destruction of Israel.
The Iraqi prime minister is viewed as unwilling to take on his fellow Shiites in the counterinsurgency fight and unable to reach out to Sunni leaders. But Bush continued to be upbeat on al-Maliki's leadership, saying only that if it became clear the Iraqi leader was not pressing Iran to stay out of the war, "I will have to have a heart to heart with the prime minister."
Even backers of the war want Bush to take a tougher stance with al-Maliki, with a growing number of observers calling for his replacement. The Iraqi government does seem to be in a free fall of sorts, further deflating hopes that political progress can be made in time for a U.S. report on the situation due Sept. 15.
Another public figure that Bush is mostly alone in backing is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Responding to a reporter's query into the president's commitment to accountability, Bush said, "Implicit in your question is Al Gonzales has done something wrong. I haven't seen" evidence of that. "I would hope Congress would be more prone to" passing legislation "rather than being an investigative body," he added.
Later today, Bush will head for Kennebunkport, where he and the first lady will stay through the weekend for a wedding. On Saturday, the president will have lunch with his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, who's caused an international stir while taking his first post-election holiday in New Hampshire.
Yesterday, White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters that the Bushes were having Sarkozy and his wife to lunch because they're "in the neighborhood."
"It's coming over -- I'm sure they'll talk about some international matters, but this is not a summit, this is not something with an agenda," Snow said. Other than pressing world affairs, the two probably have a good deal to chat about. Conservatives who generally disdain France are starry eyed for Sarkozy. Bush lost his best friend on the world stage when former British Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped down; Bush and Sarkozy may potentially strike up a similar kinship.
More topics Bush touched on in the presser:
The safety of U.S. bridges. Bush rejected Republican Rep. Don Young's suggestion that a gasoline tax should be raised to pay for rebuilding or replacing aging bridges. The president suggested that the money would be there once congressional appropriations committees restructured "their priorities."
Pakistan. "I suspect over the course of the next months you'll be trying to get me to engage in presidential politics, opine about what the candidates are saying. Hopefully, I'll be disciplined enough not to fall prey to those questions," Bush said, when asked the ubiquitous question of the week: "Would you act against al-Qaida in Pakistan without President Pervez Musharraf's permission?" Bush also refused to enlighten the public on the breadth of current U.S. intelligence activities within Pakistan's borders.
Detainees. "We don't torture," Bush declared, after being confronted with a New Yorker article examining the CIA's interrogation techniques. The president said he had not seen the article. He also refused to predict when the Guantanamo detention facility would be closed, and blamed the delay on foreign governments' reluctance to take in their own nationals.
Taxes. Bush did not say definitively whether he would move to slash corporate taxes even further than he already has, but he indicated he probably will. Saying that the administration's review of corporate taxes was still "in the very early stages of discussion," Bush added that "the reason to look is to determine if they make us less competitive in the global economy." Bush expressed confidence that tax-cutting was still sound even as the price tag for the Iraq war continues to balloon. The climate on the Hill has changed dramatically over the course of his administration, though. It seems unlikely he could push through another round of cuts before his second term is up.
The Iraq war. The president hasn't altered his explanation for continued U.S. military operations in Iraq, and probably won't until Sept. 15.
Posted at 1:48 PM
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Alberto Gonzales, Bush Administration, CIA, Campaigns, Congress, Detainees, Europe, France, Iran, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Taxes, Terrorism, WH 2008
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