Bush: No Tax Cut for Corporations

Some initial reports: Jennifer Loven writes for the Associated Press: "A week after a deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis, President Bush dismissed Thursday raising the federal gasoline tax to repair the nation's bridges at least until Congress changes the way it spends highway money."

AFP reports: "President George W. Bush on Thursday warned Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki against being too conciliatory with Iran after he appeared in Tehran for talks with senior leaders.

"'If the signal is that Iran is constructive, I will have to have a heart-to-heart with my friend the prime minister because I do not believe they are,' Bush said at a White House news conference."

William Branigin writes for The Washington Post: "President Bush today called on the Iranian people to reject their hard-line government, saying they 'can do better' and need not be isolated by a leadership that destabilizes its neighbors and pursues a suspected nuclear weapons program." (Bush has said this before.)

Yesterday's Roundtable

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post: "President Bush said yesterday that he is considering a fresh plan to cut tax rates for U.S. corporations to make them more competitive around the world, an initiative that could further inflame a battle with the Democratic Congress over spending and taxes and help define the remainder of his tenure.

"Advisers presented Bush with a series of ideas to restructure corporate taxes, possibly eliminating narrowly targeted breaks to pay for a broader, across-the-board rate cut. In an interview with a small group of journalists afterward, Bush said he was 'inclined' to send a corporate tax package to Congress, although he expressed uncertainty about its political viability. . . .

"In a 48-minute conversation on an array of economic issues, Bush also warned China not to start a trade war, blamed Congress for not doing more to shore up infrastructure such as the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis last week, and pushed back against Democratic presidential candidates who are promising to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"The focus on economic issues on Bush's last day in Washington before leaving town today for most of the rest of the month reflected a White House strategy to confront Democrats on tax and spending issues. With most of his second-term domestic legislative agenda in tatters and his strategy in Iraq under bipartisan fire, Bush appears eager to return to familiar issues that animated the beginning of his presidency and might rally disaffected Republicans behind him again."

Steven R. Weisman writes in the New York Times: "The president said he . . . discussed with Mr. Paulson and other cabinet members the possibility of tax cuts and reduced regulations aimed at overcoming what some see as a weakening of the competitiveness of American capital markets compared with those overseas. But he was cautious about saying what he might propose.

"'We worked through possible suggestions for Congress to think about,' Mr. Bush said. 'It may be an issue that requires a lot of selling to get the conditions right for people to even take it seriously.'"

What was Bush's main message yesterday? Weisman reports: "Bush, seeking to reassure Americans about the economy and combat Democratic criticism of his policies, said on Wednesday that recent financial market turbulence was not a cause for worry but a natural adjustment from the improvident lending of recent years. . . .

"It was an unusual presentation for Mr. Bush, both politically and economically. Presidents are usually advised not to wade into discussions of markets at a time when they are so unpredictable and anxiety-inducing. . . .