Five members of the House did not cast votes. The American family had a victory today. The American entrepreneur had a victory today. Most House Democrats were furious with the Republican majority for pushing the bill through the legislative process so quickly, and they dusted off a number of parliamentary tricks in an attempt to stall its progress. Still, they had little chance to stop the measure since President Bush promoted before Congress last week the tax plan he has championed since the early days of his campaign for the White House.
Consumer confidence is down, energy prices are up, and economic growth is stagnant.
The economy needs a boost, and this tax relief will provide that boost. Democrats criticize 'partisan process' Democrats were angered that the GOP leadership and the Bush administration have been so willful in their push to get the bill through the House so rapidly, saying it makes little sense for the Republicans to draft a tax cut before creating a fiscal year 2002 budget resolution. This is more of the same. The Republicans have said they wish to get the tax rate changes passed first, and they plan to return later to issues such as marriage penalty relief and elimination of the estate tax. Ian Christopher McCaleb and Reuters contributed to this report.