Bush, at Illinois Deere plant, pushes for expanded trade

Associated Press WriterEAST MOLINE, Ill. (AP) -- President Bush renewed his push Monday for expanded trade as a cure for recession, undeterred by a fainting incident that left him with a scraped cheek and bruised lip. He vowed anew to oppose repeal or delay of the tax cuts enacted last year.

Bush opened the two-day, three-state push with a series of jokes about the fainting spell he suffered Sunday after a pretzel went down the wrong way while he was watching television in the White House. He told 1,500 workers and supporters at a John Deere plant that he expected to receive a pretzel from union workers -- "those kind that are easy to chew."

The president, who seeks broader powers to negotiate trade pacts, said, "I'm confident we need to open up markets, not close them down."

"What this nation needs is to level the playing field and have trade that'll create jobs all across America," he said.

Congress last year passed Bush's long-term tax cut but some Democrats now say that in the face of budget deficits, some of those cuts should be deferred.

Monday, Bush pledged to fight any such effort. "If you have more money in your pocket, you buy more things, which encourages more production," he said. "I've made up my mind -- the tax relief plan we passed, which you're now beginning to feel the effects of, is going to be permanent."

Bush left the White House with a bruised lip and a half-dollar-sized abrasion on his cheek after his fainting spell.

During the flight from Washington, Bush made light of his fainting spell by sending a large bag of pretzels to the press cabin with a scribbled warning to "chew slowly." Later, touring a John Deere plant here, Bush said of a welder's mask, "I need this all the time around the pretzels."

"I feel great," Bush told reporters as he left the White House. Spokesman Ari Fleischer said the president, fighting a head cold, reported having a runny nose but was otherwise fine.

During the flight, Bush called Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and President Bashar Assad of Syria to talk about peace efforts in the Middle East and the anti-terrorism campaign.

The president's itinerary had him tracing the flow of farm goods south through the Midwest en route to overseas markets.

After East Moline, he was to visit a feed mill in Aurora, Mo., and on Tuesday the Port of New Orleans, the last stop for many agricultural goods destined for export markets.

The president badly wants authority to negotiate "fast-track" trade agreements, which Congress could reject but not change.

The Republican-controlled House passed such trade promotion authority by a deeply partisan 215-214 vote last month after the White House and Republican leaders persuaded GOP holdouts to change sides. The Democratic-controlled Senate is due to vote early this year.

On agricultural business, the Senate was unable to agree on a Democratic plan to reauthorize farm programs through 2006. Most of the money in that bill would continue to go to grain, cotton and soybean farms but also offer new subsidies for a variety of additional commodities, including milk, honey and lentils. It also would double spending on conservation.

The administration criticized both that bill and one passed by the House in October and urged Congress to delay finishing work on them until this year. It said both measures risk exceeding levels set in an international trade agreement and provide too much money to big farms that least need the assistance.

Bush focused on the economy at a time his administration's contacts with now-bankrupt Enron Corp. are under intense scrutiny, and as the war on terrorism continues.

"The economy is a concern for all Americans, especially for those out of work," the president said in his weekly radio address Saturday. He outlined his plan to extend unemployment and health benefits for Americans who have lost their jobs.