President George W Bush launched the flagship of his domestic agenda for the first year of his presidency yesterday by sending his plan for billions of dollars of tax cuts to Congress.
Opposition Democrats responded by announcing plans to fight the package, but in terms markedly less confrontational than those put forward during the election campaign.
When he was campaigning for the White House, Mr Bush advocated the tax cut on the grounds that a booming economy and a soaring federal budget surplus permitted a windfall for all. However, with the recent slowdown in the US economy he now says that the tax cuts are needed to reinvigorate demand.
Mr Bush said at the White House yesterday: "We need tax relief now. In fact, we need tax relief yesterday."
The plan focuses on reducing the current five federal income tax rate bands to four lower bands; at present US taxpayers face five bands ranging from 15 per cent to 39.6 per cent. Mr Bush's proposal would replace them with bands of 10 per cent, 15 per cent, 25 per cent and 33 per cent.