Bush to stump for economic package

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- President Bush will focus on domestic issues Saturday when he pitches his economic agenda to audiences on the West Coast after spending the Christmas holidays in near seclusion at his Texas ranch.

While the conflict in Afghanistan continues to be the lead story in the United States, uncertainty about the economy has been running a strong second as the travel industry slumped after Sept. 11 and retailers weathered a tepid Christmas shopping season.

"The slow-down that had begun during the year 2000 became a recession in March, shortly after the president took office," Bush's commnications director, Karen Hughes, told reporters in Crawford, Texas Friday. "He made a tax relief package his top priority, to try to begin an economic recovery, and we feel that was just beginning to take effect and that there were some good signs that the economy was just beginning to turn around when the attacks of September 11th occurred."

"We hope that we are beginning to show some signs of recovery," she added.

Bush was expected to use Saturday's town hall meeting in Ontario, California and a speech in Portland later in the day to prod the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass his economic package, which includes controversial proposals for more than $1.35 trillion in tax cuts, and a move toward more domestic energy production, including opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to oil and gas exploration.

While the president's handling of the war in Afghanistan has a high level of public approval, the White House's tax and energy proposals drew criticism from the Democrats prior to Sept. 11 and will likely experience some flak on Capitol Hill this winter.

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Friday that the Democrats did not object to tax cuts as a means of stimulating the economy, however they felt the GOP plan didn't offer enough in the way of immediate tax assistance to employers who may be forced to lay off workers, and would aggravate the national budget deficit.

"The real difference is our tax cuts will keep people at work and keep the economy growing by stimulating economic activity right now," Daschle said. "Their tax cuts have very little to do with sparking an economic recovery."

The town hall meeting in Ontario -- located due east of Los Angeles in the suburbs of San Bernardino County -- will likely not dwell on the political parries being heard in Washington. The event was expected to draw around 5,000 people, including a large number of Latino business leaders who are primarily interested in issues involving small businesses and cross-border trade with Mexico.

The event also gives Bush a chance to appear before a presumably friendly crowd that is both Latino and largely receptive to a pro-business Republican administration. The Los Angeles Times noted Friday that tickets to the event were being distributed by business groups and Los Angeles-area chambers of commerce.

Some observers see an enthusiastic welcome for Bush in Ontario as a canny political move in a major state that has a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators, and which supported Al Gore in the 2000 election.

Ruth Lopez Williams, Chairwoman of Los Angeles' Latin Business Assn., told the Times, "He is being very strategic and very wise."