EMERSON: SPEECH `RIGHT DOWN MY ALLEY'

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson said President Bush "hit a home run" with his State of the Union address Tuesday night, driving home substantive points he believes the American people will embrace.

Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, said the president offered positive proposals that address the country's weakened economy.

"It was a speech that was right down my alley," said Emerson in a telephone interview from Washington. The Cape Girardeau congressman said he is a sponsor or co-sponsor of legislation that takes in many of the elements of the president's address.

"It was a substantive speech with the right recommendations," he said. "Congress is going to have to engage these solid proposals for jump-starting the economy."

Emerson said he particularly liked what the president said about investment tax allowances, research and development tax credits and the presidential line-item veto.

The Missouri representative supports the president's call for a cut in the capital gains tax, saying it is a topic of concern among many of his constituents.

"Liberals like class warfare," said Emerson, noting that left-wing members of Congress say a cut in the capital gains tax will only benefit "rich Republicans."

Emerson said: "Do you know how many rich Republicans there are in Southeast Missouri? Very, very few. What there are are a lot of Main Street merchants and business people who have been asking for this cut for years."

The congressman said the research and development incentive is critical for long-range competitiveness of American business.

"It will provide us with new technology and tens of thousands of new jobs in America," he said. "I think there will be significant Democratic support for that."

Will Democrats embrace the other Bush proposals?

Many will, said Emerson, but not the liberal wing.

"If there was a conservative majority in Congress, (the proposals) could be in two weeks," he said. "The liberals don't have a game plan."

In order to warm the majority to these proposals, the American public is going to have to let Congress know of its support.

Emerson said Bush also pushed the right buttons in providing perspective on the "state of the union."

"He took the time to tell us where we are," said the congressman. "You know, we did win the Cold War. It's not like (Bush) has been frittering away his time these last few years."

Other Missourians in congress were divided along partisan lines in their praise and criticism of Bush's address.

Sen. Christopher Bond, a Republican, said Bush outlined a bold package to reduce federal spending and demonstrated that "our economic challenges demand dramatic change because more government-as-usual won't work."

House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, a St. Louis Democrat, said: "The president promised to offer big changes and he did not deliver."

The president's proposals, Gephardt said, were "Band-Aids and political ideas that will help rich and powerful interests, while virtually ignoring the concerns of the middle class."

Sen. John Danforth, a Republican, applauded Bush's economic proposals for focusing on "long-term answers - the kind of things that will build a sound economy for the future, not the quick gimmicks, not the election year giveaways."

Rep. Joan Kelly Horn, a Ladue Democrat, agreed with several Bush proposals, such as expanding the Head Start program and helping homeowners.

But she said: "What struck me most ... was the absurdity of how it's going to be paid for. He says a freeze on domestic programs, but that's a small part of the budget. He says he's not going to break the budget agreement. How unrealistic that is."

Some information for this story was provided by the Associated Press.