Indiana lawmakers optimistic

Indiana legislators listened intently to what President George W. Bush had to say during his first national address before Congress Tuesday. Bush largely focused on the budget he submitted Wednesday, the centerpiece of which is his 10-year, $1.7 trillion across-the-board tax cut plan.\nIt's music to the ears of Rep. John Hostettler, R-8th.\n"It's refreshing to hear from a president who trusts Americans to make the best decisions for themselves and their community," he said. "After eight years of a Washington-knows-best mentality in the White House, we now have a chief executive who recognizes that working Americans are most qualified to make decisions regarding their money."\nThe Congressional Budget Office, Hostettler noted, projects that the federal government will take in $27.9 trillion in taxes during the next decade. Once trust funds are set aside and some of the national debt is redeemed, the office predicts $5.6 trillion in surplus. \nHostettler said he agrees with Bush that with record federal surpluses taxes should be cut. \n"President Bush recognizes that every trillion dollars collected by the federal government represents another trillion dollars subtracted from the paychecks of working Americans and the cash registers of American business," he said. "One trillion dollars is represented by a one followed by 12 zeros -- a truly incomprehensible number -- and yet over the next 10 years the federal government is expected to collect 28 times that amount." \nMany Democrats have denounced Bush's tax cut plan as too large. But Hostettler, who's advocating a $2.2 trillion tax cut along with other conservative members of Congress, dismisses such reservations.\n"It's absurd for anyone to claim that Washington can't afford to return some of the money to the people who generated it in the first place," he said. "It's overly generous, in that it allows an already bloated federal budget to continue growing at an annual rate of 4 percent over the next 10 years."\nSen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, also liked what he heard. While he didn't have many words for the tax cut, Lugar praised Bush's $1.9 trillion budget as fiscally responsible.\n"The Bush budget plans the most aggressive federal debt management in our history, while protecting every dollar of the $2.6 trillion Social Security surplus," he said in a press release. "He advocates a fair individual tax cut across the board that will stimulate savings, investment and job-creating economic growth."\nBush proposed an increase of $14.2 billion for military spending, which Lugar supports.\n"The President's proposal to increase military pay and devote additional resources to our nation's security is a vital step," Lugar said. \nIndiana Democrats also largely stood behind the president.\nSen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, said he looked forward to working in good faith with Bush on such matters as education and health care.\n"I think we have a very real opportunity to make bipartisan progress on some very important issues for Indiana families," he said in a statement.\nBut Bayh wasn't entirely sold on Bush's tax cut.\n"I wholeheartedly endorse the President's call for major tax relief to get the economy moving again," he said. "But it should be a fiscally responsible tax cut that doesn't go back to the days of debts and deficits." \nBayh said he also wonders whether an across-the-board tax cut should be the first priority.\n"We must preserve some resources for education and helping seniors with the high cost of prescription drugs," he said.