U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, in his first public appearance in some time, Wednesday made a strong push for President Bush's tax cut. He told a business audience in Washington that Congress should put aside partisan wrangling and quickly pass a stimulus measure to help pull the U.S. economy out of its slump.
Mr. Cheney told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the opposition-controlled Senate should approve a stimulus program based on tax cuts and not on emergency government spending favored by the Democrats. Mr. Cheney, a former corporate chief executive, said tax relief provides a more long-lasting economic boost.
"We believe if we're seriously interested in stimulus, though, that absolutely the best way to go is through tax relief," said the vice president.
The Senate plan relies on increases in government spending for the unemployed while the House plan backed by the President relies on tax cuts for individuals and corporations. Both measures are worth about $100 billion or one percent of American output. The U.S. economy shrank by four tenths of one percent during the third quarter and is expected to decline at a faster pace during the last three months of the year.