White House press secretary Dana Perino today declined to comment on whether President Bush supports Sen. John McCain's idea to suspend the gas tax this summer, but said the Arizonian is distinguishing himself from Democrats by backing lower taxes.
"In a campaign, everybody wants a quick reaction," Mrs. Perino said at the midday press briefing.
She said, however, that White House approval of any proposal is contingent on "a policy process we go through to look at that."
Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, today proposed suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Mrs. Perino said that "in theory and in our philosophy, we are always for lower taxes. And I think what John McCain has laid out is his proposal for how he would get there."
Mrs. Perino said that as the November election gets close, "distinctions between the two parties become very clear, and taxes is going to be one of those core issues that Americans are going to be thinking about, especially in a time when they feel economic uncertainty."
"What John McCain is showing today is that he is representing the party for lower taxes. And I think your question is best posed to his opponents," she said.
— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times
Comments (1)
Better yet, give us a system where we have a greater say in what is done with our tax dollars. How about coming to the citizens for budget approval? There is no business in the world that survives by being ineffective. For the past eight years the Congress has been ineffective (just look at their approval ratings). Guess what, all of the presidential candidates are from the Congress and their ratings are below the President.
Posted by Larry Stone | April 16, 2008 6:26 AM