4 • NEWS
Tough tests lie ahead for Bush team
By Paula Marinak
Capital Times Staff Writer
With his honeymoon period thawing
to a close, George W. Bush wants to show
that behind the favorite new Saturday
Night Live character, there is a serious man
with a serious agenda. The opinion of a
group of PSH faculty who recently led a
panel discussion on the president's first
100 days in office was that although Bush
and his team have fared rather well to this
point, a difficult road may lie ahead.
On April 10, the follow-up to
January's Inaugural Ball once again drew
a large crowd (including a few students
from Steelton-Highspire High School) to
the Gallery Lounge for a look at where
Bush's platform of compassionate conser
vatism may take the country.
Some new faces joined this panel
which Dr. Jeremy Plant, professor of pub
lic administration and public policy,
chaired. But the issues discussed were
familiar. Dr. Vedula Murti, assis-
tant professor of economics and
statistics, shared his thoughts on
Bush's plan for the economy,
while Dr. Steven Melnick, associ-
ate professor of education, spoke
about the president's vision for
America's schools. Women's
issues were once again addressed
by Dr. Carol Nechemias, an asso
ciate professor of public policy
and a member of the Steering
Committee for the women's stud-
ies program. As coordinator of
the public policy program, Dr.
Robert Bresler shared his
thoughts on Bush's leadefship
and relations with Congress; Dr
Steven Peterson, head of the
school of public affairs, also
explored these topics
The panelists agreed that the
43rd president has fared better
than expected in his early days in
office, and some, like Nechemias,
believe his administration may be
more conservative than it first appeared.
Still, Bush must concentrate his efforts in
some key policy areas if he hopes to have
a successful term and make another run at
the White House in 2004.
Since economic performance often
indicates an American politician's success,
Bush's tax plan received much attention.
His prescription for economic growth
revolves around a $1.6 trillion tax cut over
10 years, which includes a substantial
reduction of personal income tax rates and
elimination of estate taxes and the mar
riage penalty tax. But will this proposed
overhaul give our economy the shot in the
arm that some members of the popular
press say it needs?
Murti says no. "Under Bush's plan,
the wealthiest 1% of the population gets
40% of the tax relief. These people will
save, not spend. If you want to stimulate
the economy, you should give a tax cut to
the people who are going to spend it: low
and middle-income groups."
Murti also questions the equity of
Bush's proposal since nearly 30 million
Americans pay no federal income taxes
because they earn too little. To make the
plan more fair, Multi suggests raising the
ceiling on taxable income while lowering
the total amount of federal taxes. In other
words, higher incomes mean higher taxes.
The real danger of Bush's budget pro
posal, said Murti, is that it just doesn't add
up with the projected $231 billion surplus.
"You want to cut taxes, but assuming you
also want to build up the military, have a
prescription drug plan fOr the elderly and
do something about education, there's not
much left. What he said about Gore—fuzzy
math—his estimate of the tax cut is nothing
but fuzzy math," he said.
While the economy was one of the
to Bush's c - education also
Robert Brasier, Jerry Plant, Vedula Murti, Steve Melnick,
(not pictured) evaluated George W. Bush's first
ranked high on his list of presidential pri
orities. Just a decade ago, the Department
of Education was headed for the chopping
block as an example of wasteful govern
ment spending. But Bush has called for an
11.5% boost in its funding, and members
of both major parties are backing their
leader. His recipe for success in schtx,ls
combines more rigorous standards for test
ing, curriculum and teacher accountability
with plans to offer parents greater school
choice. Bush also wants to establish edu
cational savings accounts. This aspect of
his proposal would allow parents to con
tribute up to $5,000 tax free from kinder
garten to higher education for their chil
dren.
Each of these initiatives shares a com
mon ingredient: a healthy dose of compe
tition. "States and schools would compete
the
CAPITAL TIMES
to narrow the achievement gap," Melnick
said. "Those who do well get more federal
bonus dollars. If objectives aren't met, fed
eral funding is reduced."
Bush would give troubled districts
extra financial and technical support for
one year. If they did not improve after two
years, parents could choose any public
school within or outside their district.
After three years, parents could send their
children to any public, private or parochial
school.
Besides wider school choice and more
financial aid, Bush is lobbying hard for
annual state testing in grades 3-8, which he
believes would hold teachers to a higher
standard. "Currently, no more than half of
the states do any kind of testing because
there are no standards," Melnick said.
Bush also wants to raise the bar nationally.
Current federal law mandates that the
National Assessment of Educational
Progress monitor samples of fourth
- aders and ei ith - aders biannual'
Carol Nechemias and Steven Peterson
100 days in office on April 10.
Bush wants to conduct the sample yearly.
Additionally, he wants to form partner
ships between public schools and institu
tions of higher learning to boost student
perfOrmance in math and science.
One audience member expressed
some concern over Bush's call for faith
based after-school programs, but Melnick
has no problem with them if they work.
Where the tension comes in, he said, is in
deciding how much federal money to
devote to them.
Nechemias supports some of the pres
ident's educational goals, reducing class
size and cracking down on school vio
lence. Some other ideas worry her, though.
"I'm afraid the money will end up being
diverted from programs that could actually
improve education and we'll just pour
money into testing," she said.
MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2001
Although Bush has surprised
Nechemias thus far by appointing women
at relatively the same rate as Clinton did,
concerns about women's issues dominated
her remarks. She said that only anti-femi
nist groups and religious organizations that
promote traditional Biblical values are
truly pleased with Bush's election.
"Certain types of women's organiza
tions are really not on the radar screen,"
she said, citing Bush's recent abolition of
the White House Office for Women's
Initiatives, which dealt with women's eco
nomic issues and domestic violence,
among other issues.
Nechemias said Bush would favor a
return to the "Mexico Rule." This would
end U.S. federal aid to international
groups that sponsor family planning and
offer referrals or money for abortions. She
also believes Bush would support partial
birth abortions, as well as limits on who
could be prescribed the abortion pill
RU4B6.
Perhaps most troubling to
Nechemias is the Unborn Victims
of Violence Act. If signed into
law, this would make a fetus
legally equal to its mother, even if
the woman did not know she was
pregnant: "This hai all kinds of
implications people often don't
think about," said Nechemias.
"Let's arrest women for smoking
cigarettes, for example."
Bush faces many challenges
in this country, but another big
early test of his leadership and
rhetorical skills comes from the
tension between the U.S. and
China. Though the Chinese gov
ernment has agreed to release the
24 American military personnel,
concern remains over the fate of
their reconnaissance plane, which
contains surveillance equipment
with top-secret military informa
tion.
"We want China as a trading
partner, but they have the second most
powerful military in the world," said
Peterson. Given the thorny nature of this
problem, Peterson says it will be a big test
of Bush's leadership and rhetorical skills.
Even though the president will face
many challenges as his term continues,
Peterson thinks Bush has done well in the
early days. "George W. was very sensible
in only introducing a few key initiatives
early in his administration," he said. "The
early tea leaves are fairly positive. He has
set the agenda and the
. Democrats are
responding."
Bresler's tone was positive yet cau
tionary. "This is just a prelude," he said.
"If he passes the big tests with the budget
and the tax cut, he'll be OK. But the real
heavy lifting, arm twisting and arm
wrestling is just beginning."