MUSKEGON, Michigan, Sept 13 (AFP) - President George W. Bush on Monday told voters in this battleground state that Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry would raise their taxes and put "bureaucrats" in charge of health care.
Bush, in a rare shift in focus from national security to bread-and-butter issues, targeted Kerry's ambitious plan to help families facing skyrocketing medical costs and tens of millions without health insurance.
"I'm running against a fellow who has got a massive, complicated blueprint to have our government take over the decisionmaking in health care," the president told supporters at an airport rally here.
"His plan, if you listen carefully to what he says, would have bureaucrats be the decision makers," said Bush, who leads Kerry in most polls with under two months before the November 2 election.
Bush cited a conservative think-tank's estimate that the Democrat's health care proposal would cost 1.5 trillion dollars over 10 years, and warned: "He can't pay for it unless he raises your taxes."
Kerry, who sharply disputes that cost estimate, has said he would pay for his domestic policies by repealing the portion of Bush's trillion dollar tax cuts that benefit the uppermost earners in the United States.
"You can't tax the rich enough," to pay for the plan, the president countered. "The rich hire accountants and lawyers for a reason. And you get stuck with the bill.
With polls showing he lags behind Kerry on domestic issues like health care, Bush touted a series of modest initiatives as well as passage of controversial legislation extending the Medicare government administered health care for the elderly to cover prescription drugs.
The Bush administration drew fire from lawmakers of both parties when it was discovered -- after the US Congress approved the plan -- that it had concealed the initiative's price tag, which was higher than the estimate lawmakers had been given.