Greenspan questions Bush's tax cuts: On Tuesday, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan disputed Bush’s big tax cuts plan, “saying that the economy probably does not need any short-term stimulus and warning that budget deficits could spiral out of control.” Although he did not attack any specific agenda on Bush’s $674 billion tax cut proposal, Greenspan did question the administration’s philosophy that the budget will be best balanced by encouraging faster growth.
At a hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban affairs, Greenspan said, “My own judgment is that fiscal stimulus is premature.” Due to Greenspan’s reputation as a knowledgeable analyst of economic matters, his discouraging remarks are likely to negatively influence the perception of the Bush administration’s proposed tax cut. Two years ago, Greenspan’s support of Bush tax cuts helped them gain approval in Congress.
France submits plan to UN: With the support of Russia and Germany, France submitted a plan to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that would aid in weapons inspections and offer an alternative plan to the United States’ proposal of disarming Iraq by force. France’s plan would seek to double and later triple the number of weapons inspectors and increase the number of aerial surveillance flights. However, there is some discrepancy that such a plan has even been considered, and Iraq is placing conditions on the U-2 surveillance flights. Security Council Resolution 1441 says that Iraq must allow for unconditional use of the U-2 planes by inspectors, but one official noted that it was common for inspectors to notify Iraq of a window of time when the planes would be flying.
Pentagon project restricted: House and Senate negotiators agreed this week that the Pentagon program Total Information Awareness presented a threat to personal privacy. The program, which is designed to “detect terrorists by monitoring Internet e-mail and commercial databases for health, financial and travel information,” cannot be used against Americans, members agreed. In defense of the program, Lt. Cmdr. Donald Sewell, a Pentagon spokesman, said, “The Department of Defense still feels that it’s a tool that can be used to alert us to terrorist acts before they occur. It’s not a program that snoops into American citizens’ privacy.” Various Democratic and Republican groups who saw that act as a large step toward further protecting American civil liberties praised the members’ actions.
Data compiled by Paige Wassel with information from the New York Times.