Bush adviser: ''the war on terror must be won in order to be able to have this sound economy''.

Financial Times
Jan. 12, 2006

In a speech laden with references to the attacks of September 11 2001, a senior adviser to President George W. Bush on Wednesday made an explicit link between the two dominant themes of the administration when he noted that “the war on terror must be won in order to be able to have this sound economy”.

Andrew Card, who has served as Mr Bush’s chief of staff for the last five years, told the US Chamber of Commerce that “the war on terror” was the president’s key domestic priority.

In rare public comments on the administration’s 2006 priorities, Mr Card devoted more than half his speech to Iraq and terrorism rather than legislative initiatives.

In the past few months White House officials have scaled back their ambitions for 2006, focusing on winning the war in Iraq and touting economic growth. On Social Security reform, once the central domestic agenda item of Mr Bush’s second term, Mr Card conceded: “Is there anything new on Social Security reform? No, but that doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be reform.

“I think the reality is that Congress is predisposed not to do the heavy lifting that is necessary for Social Security reform in 2006, but they definitely should be prepared to start lifting in 2007.”

The White House is currently finalising its budget for 2007, and Mr Card pledged the administration would “exercise great discipline”. However, he declined to comment on the cost of the war on terror and its impact on the widening budget deficit.

A report from Linda Bilmes, an academic at Harvard, and Joseph Stiglitz, of Columbia University, recently said that the Iraq war could cost $750bn (£425bn) under conservative estimates or more than $1,184bn under a more moderate scenario.

Mr Card emphasised Mr Bush’s record in holding down discretionary spending over the last five years. “Do you know that the budget that we are living under right now represented an honest cut in discretionary domestic spending? I don’t think there was another administration in modern times that could say that.”

Mr Card described a recent report from the National Academy of Engineering and Sciences that underscored the decline in the number of physical science and mathematics graduates as “compelling”. He noted that “we are taking a very close look at it in the administration.”

“We are very forward-leaning in believing that it is the right issue to address, and many of the suggestions are appropriate suggestions, but we have to put them in the context of Josh Bolten’s budget, and we’ll be doing that.”

In an unusual nod at the corruption scandals dogging some congressional Republicans, Mr Card added: “There is a dark cloud that seems to be gathering around the political world. And there are questions that are being asked.”

He suggested that the public should invite their representatives on Capitol Hill “to listen”. “We should invite them to respond. And that’s pretty important.”