WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush vowed Thursday to halve the budget gap, rewrite tax law and reform health and pension systems, menaced by a wave of baby-boomer retirees.
Bush, declaring himself refreshed by victory in his first news conference since the November 2 election, gave scarce details of how he would achieve the goals.
He stuck to a promise to halve the record 2004 budget deficit of 413 billion dollars -- the gap between government spending and income -- by 2009 with a curb on spending, except for defense, and pro-growth policies.
Many analysts are skeptical that the deficit can be halved while financing a global "war on terror" without rolling back some of the nearly 1.9 trillion dollars in tax cuts Bush has passed.
Bush said the red ink could be mopped up with robust economic growth boosting government revenues if Congress ensured that spending bills were "fiscally responsible."
"With good economic policy that encourages economic growth, the revenue streams begin to increase. As the revenues streams increase, coupled with fiscal discipline, you'll see the deficit shrinking."
Bush called for budgetary reform in Congress, saying he would like to gain a "line-item veto" -- the power to reject expenditure items in a bill without rejecting the entire piece of legislation.
The president did not repeat a demand that Congress make his tax cuts permanent, a call he had made throughout the election campaign.
He promised to rewrite the tax system to make it simpler but vowed not to sneak in a tax increase.
Tax reform would be "revenue neutral," he told a news conference.
"If there was a need to raise taxes, I would say, 'Let's have a tax bill that raises taxes,' as opposed to, 'Let's simplify the tax code and sneak a tax increase on the people,'" Bush said.
"That's not my style. I don't believe we need to raise taxes."
The main priorities would be to create a system that was fair, simple and without loopholes for special interests, Bush said.
The US leader said he would not shrink from reforming the pension and health systems, which face a crushing influx of retirees.
Some lawmakers had questioned whether the administration had the will to make those reforms, Bush said.
"The answer is yes," he added.
"I believe we have a duty to do so."
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and some economists have called for steps to control health and pension payments so as to ensure the system can cope with baby-boomer shock.
"We must lead on Social Security because the system is not going to be whole for our children or grandchildren," Bush said.
"We'll start on Social Security now."
In his campaign, Bush outlined plans to allow younger workers to put some payroll tax into "personal retirement accounts."
He recognized the change would cost extra money in the short term.
"Reforming Social Security will be a priority of my administration. If it were easy, it would have already been done," he said.
"There are going to be costs, but the costs of doing nothing ... is much greater than the cost of reforming the system today," he said.
Bush passed tax cuts worth 1.35 trillion dollars over 10 years in 2001 and another 350 billion dollars over 10 years in 2003. All of the tax cuts expire by the end of 2010. Some expire earlier, such as a dividend tax cut, which is due to evaporate at the end of 2008.
Last month, he signed a law doling out corporate tax breaks worth another 146 billion dollars over a decade.
11/04/2004 18:21 GMT - AFP