House Approves Bush Tax Cut

W A S H I N G T O N, March 8, 2001 -- With little support from Democrats, the Republican-controlled House today approved the first installment of President Bush's 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax-cut proposal, as the battle shifts to less certain ground in the Senate.

The final vote was 230-198, with no Republicans voting against the $958 billion income tax cut. But just 10 Democrats voted for it, signaling the tough road ahead for Bush to win much-needed Democratic votes in the Senate.

Shortly after landing in Fargo, N.Dak., this evening, Bush received a call from House Speaker Dennis Hastert to deliver the "good news."

"It's a strong message to the American people that the members of the U.S. Congresshave heard loud and clear," Bush told Hastert, "that if we set priorities and watch ourspending habits that we can send some meaningful money back to thepeople."

Before the vote, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer had said that if any Democrats voted for the plan, the White House would bill it as a bipartisan victory.

"The president's view is that he's pleased that there are any number of Democrats, no matter who they turn out to be, who vote for the right proposal to lower taxes on the American people," Fleischer said.

Is The Honeymoon Over?

But following a lengthy debate that was at times bitter, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt said today that the honeymoon is over for Bush on Capitol Hill.

"My assessment after just a few weeks of this Congress is that bipartisanship is over, not that it ever began," said Gephardt, D-Mo.

Even as his plan to boost the economy overcame its first hurdle, Bush was focused on the larger challenge down the road: Pushing it through the Senate, which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.

Gephardt expects the "strong, unified" Democratic vote against the Bush plan in the House will send a message to the Senate: "Stop, whoa, slow down. Let's look at this. Let's be more careful."

Bush was trying to send a signal of his own, drumming up support today in the Dakotas, both Republican states with Democratic senators — one of which is home of the Senate's Democratic leader.

Bush will need every vote he can get in the Senate, as even some Republican senators worry the tax cut will eat up too much of the surplus.

"In Maine, when the calendar shows spring, we don't put our shovels away," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. "You may well have a downturn. You may well have a change in the weather."

In an attempt to address concerns that the tax cut would bust the budget if projected surpluses never materialize, a bipartisan group of senators is proposing a trigger mechanism that would eliminate the tax cuts if the economy turns sour.

Man With A Plan

By the weekend, Bush will have visited seven states in eight days; he carried six of those states in November: Nebraska, Arkansas, Georgia last week; Illinois, the Dakotas, and tomorrow, Louisiana.

Democratic senators are facing tough re-election battles in three of those states: Max Cleland in Georgia, Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, and Tim Johnson in South Dakota.

White House officials bluntly acknowledge the president is trying to muscle senators into voting for his tax cut by going directly to their constituents.

In Fargo tonight, Bush urged a cheering, flag-waving crowd to turn up the heat on their senators.

"If you like what you hear today, maybe e-mail some of the good folks from the United States Senate from your state," Bush said. "If you like what you hear, why don't you just give 'em a call and write 'em a letter."

Today, Sen. Johnson said he has been feeling some heat. He's been receiving e-mails and letters, and Vice President Dick Cheney has even called into a local radio talk show to chat up the plan. Johnson says there should be a tax cut, but not one that comes at the expense of programs important to South Dakotans.

"There will be political operatives who try to make this a choice: either you're for a tax cut, or you're not for a tax cut and they're trying to sell it that way," Johnson said. "I think South Dakotans are too smart for that."

The other senator from South Dakota, Minority leader Tom Daschle, was less sanguine about Bush's visit, with his press secretary calling the president's planned event in Sioux Falls "staged."

Daschle's aide said that if Bush really talked to the people of that state, instead of visiting an Air National Guard base, the president would find his tax cut has no appeal to them.

The minority leader is holding a rival event on tax cuts Friday after Bush has left the state.

Terry Moran and Dean Norland contributed to this report.

ABCNEWS' Ann Compton and Tamara Lipper contributed to this report.