"Tengo capital político. Intento emplearlo"

Autor: Julian Borger

Fecha: 5/11/2004

Traductor: Estefanía, especial para P.I.

Fuente: El Guardián

'I have political capital. I intend to spend it'

Little sign of consensual approach as Bush sets out second-term plan

George Bush declared his intention to press ahead with a radical free-market agenda yesterday, promising to spend the political capital he said he earned with his re-election.
He also heralded changes in the cabinet, amid reports John Ashcroft, the attorney-general, would soon announce his retirement. But Mr Bush said he had not yet made any decisions about a new team.
In his first post-election press conference, Mr Bush said he would deliver on pledges to reshape the pension system, simplify the tax code, impose a cap on medical lawsuits and extend testing in schools.
He would "continue to reach out to our friends and allies in the rest of the world", but was unrepentant about the assertive foreign policy that marked his first term. He dismissed criticism abroad as hostility to the advance of democracy in the Middle East.
"There is a certain attitude in the world by some that says that it's a waste of time to try to promote free societies in parts of the world. I've heard that criticism," Mr Bush said. "And I fully understand that that might rankle some and be viewed by some as folly."
Asked about Tony Blair's call for greater focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said the US was doing all it could, and restated his commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict.
"I agree with him that the Middle East peace is a very important part of a peaceful world. I have been working on Middle Eastern peace ever since I've been the president," Mr Bush said. "I laid down a very hopeful strategy in June of 2002, and my hope is that we'll make good progress."
Ebullient over his re-election and increased Republican majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives, he made it clear he saw the vote as a mandate for his manifesto.
"This week the voters of America set the direction of our nation for the next four years," he said. "I earned capital in the political campaign and I intend to spend it."
He pledged to begin work on the social security system immediately. He has proposed allowing workers to put some of their pension contributions into individual investment accounts under their control rather than paying them into a government fund.
It will be a difficult scheme to implement as the national security contributions are an important source of federal revenue and the costs of switching to a new system have been estimated at $2 trillion.
"But the cost of doing nothing is ... much greater," the president said. "That was the case I made on the campaign trail, and I was earnest about getting something done."
He said the best way to create jobs was to continue to lower taxes on entrepreneurs and small-business owners. It remained unclear yesterday whether his post-election promise to heal the wounds of the campaign was rhetorical or signalled an intention to pursue a more bipartisan approach with an eye on his long-term legacy.
An early indication will come when he nominates a successor to Mr Ashcroft who delighted conservatives, but enraged liberals with the restrictions on civil liberties in the Patriot Act, intended to combat terrorism.
Another test will be the imminent retirement of the chief justice of the supreme court, William Rehnquist, who has thyroid cancer. The nomination of an ultra-conservative would galvanise opposition from Democrats and moderate Republicans such as Arlen Specter, the likely head of the Senate judiciary committee.
Asked about a cabinet reshuffle, Mr Bush said only: "There'll be changes. I don't know who they will be. I'm going to Camp David this afternoon, and begin the process of thinking about the cabinet and White House staff." On the supreme court appointment, he said: "I told the people on the campaign trail that I'll pick somebody who knows the difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law."

•Mr Bush's second term gained a mascot yesterday when a Scottish terrier puppy named Miss Beazley was welcomed to the White House, a present from the president to his wife Laura on her birthday.

Julian Borger in Washington