In Peoria, President Plays Up Economy

Bush States Case For Trade Pacts

President Bush mingles with workers as he tours the Caterpillar Plant in East Peoria, Ill. Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert - AP)

PEORIA, Ill., Jan. 30 -- So it's come to this. As President Bush tries to win back public support and sell his new domestic program, he came here Tuesday to see whether it would play in, well, you know the rest.

Bush flew here to have breakfast with small-business leaders at a diner in perhaps the nation's most famous place for testing the marketability of ideas, then headed over to the Caterpillar plant across the Illinois River in East Peoria to climb aboard a massive D10 tractor and take a presidential spin.

The other presidential spin of the day was about the strength of the economy. While the Iraq war dominates the political dialogue in Washington, Bush reminded audiences that the economy has been growing along with U.S. exports and credited his tax and trade policies. He touted health-care and energy proposals from his State of the Union address and made the case for brokering further free-trade agreements.

"The temptation is to say, 'Well, trade may not be worth it, let's isolate ourselves, let's protect ourselves,' " Bush told workers surrounded by Caterpillar's trademark earthmovers. "I know it would be a mistake for Caterpillar workers to do that. . . . I know it's a bad mistake for the country to lose our confidence and not compete."

U.S. exports increased by 13.1 percent in the first 11 months of last year and 10.7 percent the year before that. Caterpillar has enjoyed particularly strong growth, with $9 billion in exports last year and $41.5 billion in overall sales.

But most Americans have lost faith in Bush's stewardship of the economy. In a Washington Post-ABC News poll this month, 41 percent of Americans approved of the president's handling of the economy, while 57 percent disapproved. Critics argue that Bush's ratings reflect a poor economic record, noting increases in the trade deficit, the national debt, the number of uninsured Americans and other barometers since he took office.

Bush argues that his tax cuts have spurred a robust economic recovery and pumped enough additional revenue into federal coffers to cut the deficit substantially. He plans to press his case with a fuller speech on the economy in New York on Wednesday.

He focused here on trade, promoting his record at a time when lawmakers are considering whether to extend his authority to negotiate agreements that are subject to "fast-track" up-or-down votes in Congress without amendment. Every president in modern times has enjoyed such power, but it expires this summer, and with Democrats now in charge of Congress, Bush faces a tough time getting it extended. He has completed trade pacts with Panama, Peru and Colombia that are awaiting congressional approval, and he is negotiating with South Korea and Malaysia. He also wants to jump-start stalled global trade talks.

The president used Caterpillar to make his case, noting that Chile became its fifth-largest export market after a Bush trade agreement. Similarly, he said, Caterpillar sales to Australia rose 26 percent after a 2005 trade pact. And he said Caterpillar business with China since it opened its market has risen 40 percent and helped create 5,000 jobs.

As he toured the facility here with Jim Owens, the chairman and chief executive, though, Bush made no mention of the schism between him and the company over climate change. Owens and Caterpillar joined nine other major corporations last week calling on Bush to support mandatory caps on emissions generally believed to contribute to global warming. Bush rebuffed the idea but proposed cutting gasoline consumption 20 percent over 10 years.

Asked about the disagreement with the corporate executives by ABC News after the visit, Bush said "I appreciate their call" for caps but repeated his preference for innovating out of the problem. "There needs to be time for some of these technologies to kick in, to give them a chance to work," he said.

Caterpillar was the second of the 10 companies in the climate-change alliance that Bush has visited since the State of the Union. He went to a DuPont facility in Delaware the day after the speech. Aides said it was coincidence.

It may be that Bush chose to come here to indulge a male fantasy -- the chance to drive one of those dirt-digging tractors that seem to fascinate every young boy. At the end of his tour, he climbed aboard and plopped down at the controls.

"I would suggest moving back," he warned reporters. "I'm about to crank this sucker up."

The president cranked the sucker up, powered it forward 20 feet, then backed it into a turn and finally straightened it out. No reporters were hit. But Bush was delighted.

"Oh, yeah," he said with satisfaction as he climbed down.