AURORA, MO. — President Bush stumped across the Midwest on Monday with a pitch for increased trade and help for American farmers, weaving in Sept. 11 patriotism and insisting anew that any repeal or delay of his tax cut "would be a disaster for the American economy."
The president began a two-day hopscotch trip through three states along the Mississippi River, a journey designed to illustrate how agriculture, manufacturing and exports join to help the economy. He made the trip with a loud red scrape on his cheek, an injury he says he got Sunday when he fainted after gulping a pretzel as he watched football on television.
Bush said he felt fine and made light of the incident, joking about it at every stop and even sending reporters aboard Air Force One a huge bag of pretzels with a message scribbled on it in black marker: "From POTUS - Chew slowly." The initials stand for president of the United States.
He visited a John Deere factory in Moline, Ill., and a feed mill here to argue for expanded trade as a means of halting recession. Then he was heading on today to Louisiana for a visit to the port of New Orleans, the last stop for many goods.
In Springfield, Mo., Bush told a crowd at an airport hangar that the United States is clearly able to grow more than enough food to feed its own people, and therefore its farmers should be given a chance to put their products into more markets worldwide.
"Let us compete and when we can compete in a fair way, we whip anybody when it comes to selling food," he said.
Later in Aurora, Bush called on Congress to approve a farm bill that encourages greater trading in U.S. agricultural products along five basic principles: That the government can afford it, that it does not lead to overproduction that can deflate prices, that it includes incentives for good conservation practices, supports "our strong commitment to trade," and establishes farm savings accounts.
"These are sound principles which will enable the American farmer to plan, to think ahead, to be able to survive in the down time and thrive when the markets get good," Bush said.
Bush vowed anew to oppose repeal or delay of the tax cuts enacted last year, saying, "That would be a disaster for the American economy, and we're not going to let it happen."
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