Bush Speaks About Stimulus Package to Reporters
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's an issue that helped topple his father and the economy has also been a nagging concern for President Bush. Now, more than a year after signing a trillion dollar tax cut, the president is preparing a new economic incentive package. The plan, to be unveiled next week, could look like this. A cut in taxes on stock dividends, accelerated personal tax cuts that had been set to take effect in two years, tax reductions for businesses and an extension of unemployment benefits. Mr. Bush spoke about the stimulus package to reporters trailing him on his Texas ranch. As CNN's Dana Bash tells us, the president also touched on other weighty subjects.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, everybody.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yes, that's the leader of the free world.</s>BUSH: I need somebody walking up here with me.</s>BASH: Pointing out the wonders of nature at his 1,600 acre Texas ranch, giving reporters a brief glimpse of the place he says he comes to get away from it all.</s>BUSH: This is all us, all the way up to the very top of those cliffs.</s>BASH: But for a president dealing with crises brewing around the world, there's only so far you can get. On North Korea, Mr. Bush says he still seeks a diplomatic solution, shrugging off suggestions allies in the region, like South Korea and Russia, are reluctant to pressure Pyongyang.</s>BUSH: They may be putting pressure on it, you just don't know about it. But I know they're not reluctant when it comes to the idea of nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.</s>BASH: On Iraq, more tough talk, restating his pledge to lead a location to disarm Saddam Hussein if he has to.</s>BUSH: For 11 long years, the world has dealt with him and now the -- and now he's got to understand, his day of reckoning is coming and therefore he must disarm voluntarily. I hope he does.</s>BASH: Then there's the home front. Mindful of the perception his father focused on Iraq and not jobless Americans a decade ago, this President Bush says he'll unveil a plan next week aimed at jump starting the economy.</s>BUSH: What I'm worried about is job creation and I'm worried about those who are unemployed. I am concerned about those who are looking for work and can't find work.</s>BASH: That economic package, White House and congressional aides say, is likely to include tax cuts on dividends for personal investors, tax breaks for businesses and a tax cut targeting lower income Americans. (on camera): Relief for Americans in the lower tax brackets could help blunt criticism from Democrats that the White House wants to help the wealthy and not the needy. President Bush intends to give a detailed speech in Chicago next Tuesday. Dana Bash, CNN, Crawford, Texas.