Prometheus 6   

Child credit not seen as boosting Bush votes

By Wayne Washington, Globe Staff, 8/6/2003

WALDORF, Md. -- Surnita Jefferson-Jones walked into a J.C. Penney's yesterday morning with four young children and the promise of four tax credits from President Bush -- part of Bush's plan to stimulate the economy by returning cash to taxpayers. She's looking forward to the money, but come November of next year, Jefferson-Jones isn't likely to repay Bush with her vote.

''I think it's a ploy to build people's confidence,'' Jefferson-Jones said of the child-credit checks.

For Bush, having the country get an economic boost from the child-credit checks coming out this week could be crucial, as Democratic opponents hammer away, decrying the millions in job losses and the slow growth they attribute to the president's policies. But Bush and his campaign clearly hope the tax credits do more than stimulate the economy -- they want them to become almost a personal expression of Bush's concern for families.

Just last week, Bush stood in the White House Rose Garden and smiled like a TV pitchman as he told Americans: ''The check is in the mail.''

But while few are willing to return them to sender, the checks don't appear to have shifted opinions about Bush or his policies, at least not in this area of suburban Maryland, where Penney's and other retailers in the local mall are cashing the child-credit checks for free.