Bush official says tax cuts fed deficit

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A top White House official has departed from past Bush administration rhetoric, saying the president's tax cuts have contributed to the deficit.

The Hill newspaper reported Tuesday that White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett wrote during an online chat last week on the White House Web site, "The deficit was caused by three things: lost revenue coming into the treasury due to the recession, funding increases to fight the war and protect the homeland, and tax relief to jumpstart our economy."

The admission the tax cuts played a part in the increase in federal deficits -- projected to reach a record high of $422 billion this year -- is in contrast to the reasons cited by Bush officials in the past.

White House spokesman deny Bartlett's comment diverted from past administration statements on the deficit. They say a midyear budget review released this summer by the White House Office of Management and Budget stated 29 percent of the deficits can be attributed to tax relief.

But in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last year, OMB Director Joshua Bolten dismissed leftist criticism of the tax cuts driving the federal budget into deficit.