By SANDRA SOBIERAJ, Associated Press Writer
ONTARIO, Calif. (AP) - President Bush (news - web sites) entered the heated election-year war of words over the recession, telling California workers Saturday that Democrats who criticize his tax cuts are tax-raisers in disguise. With a shout, he declared: ``Not over my dead body will they raise your taxes!''
Bush claimed ``incredible progress'' in the three-month-old war on terrorism, praising a spirit of unity among the American people. ``It's time to take the spirit of unity that has been prevalent in fighting the war and bring it to Washington, D.C.,'' he said.
But, he said, ``This economic debate is troubling me.''
``There are troubling signs that the old way is beginning to creep in to the people's minds in Washington. After all it's an election year,'' Bush said. ``But America is better than that. We're better than that.''
One day after Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle fired the opening salvo, Bush traveled to this California GOP bastion to fire back. Anyone who doesn't like the 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut he enacted last summer must want to raise taxes instead, Bush said, although Daschle has not actually called for a tax increase.
``There's going to be people who say we can't have the tax cut go through any more. That's a tax raise. I challenge their economics when they say raising taxes will help the country recover,'' Bush said.
``Not over my dead body will they raise your taxes!''
Bush was careful not to criticize Daschle by name and the president did not respond when one man in the hand-picked Republican audience asked Bush about making ``Tommy Daschle go to his room for being bad.''
