🚀 go-pugleaf

From the San Jose Mercury News, Sunday, 23 August 1992:


Clinton disputes Bush's claims

In depth: The president is said to have distorted at least four points.

Los Angeles Times

	Gov. Bill Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, and his
aides point to at least four major statements in President Bush's
acceptance speech Thursday at the GOP National Convention as going
beyond the acceptable level of exaggeration and shading that typifies
political campaigns:

	o Bush said that while he had raised taxes once, Clinton had
raised taxes 128 times, a charge other GOP officials have made
repeatedly over the past few weeks.

	While Clinton has put through a number of tax increases in his
12 years as Arkansas' governor, the GOP list of "tax increases"
includes repeated distortions, he and his aides assert.

	In one case, for example, when Arkansas increased its fuel tax,
the Republicans counted it as two increases -- one on diesel fuel,
another on gasoline.  In three other cases, the GOP list simply counts
the same increase twice.  Another "increase" Republican researchers
counted was a bill extending the state's dog-track racing season,
apparently on the grounds that a longer season lead to increased state
revenue.  Yet another was a law imposing a $1-per-conviction fee on
criminals to cover court costs.

	Using the same method of counting each individual tax
separately, the Congressional Record Service estimated that Bush has
increased 78 taxes in his term.  Over the 12 years of Bush and Ronald
Reagan -- a period comparable to Clinton's Arkansas tenure -- more than
300 federal taxes have been increased as well as about 250 tariffs and
fees.

	o Bush also accused Clinton of advocating the largest tax
increase in history.

	Clinton has proposed $150 billion in tax increases over four
years, primarily on families with incomes topping $200,000.  In 1982,
Reagan signed a larger tax increase -- $152 billion over four years.
The discrepancy is even larger if inflation is taken into account.  To
match Reagan's tax increase now, a candidate today would have to
propose more than $200 billion in new taxes.

	Bush's own 1990 tax increase came to $125 billion.  That tax
bill also included $18 billion in tax cuts, so the net effect raised
taxes by $107 billion.  Clinton's plan, along with $150 billion in
increases, includes about $104 billion in tax cuts -- for families with
children, entrepreneurs who start new businesses and companies that
invest in creating new jobs.  Thus, the new increase under his proposal
would come to $46 billion.

	o In describing Clinton's tax plan, Bush claimed Clinton "says
he wants to tax the rich, but folks, he defines as rich anyone who has
a job."

	While a President Clinton might end up raising taxes on people
who aren't rich, he has proposed increasing income tax rates only on
individuals with annual incomes above $150,000 and couples with income
above $200,000 -- roughly 2 percent of the U.S. population.

	Clinton has proposed one other new tax and might propose a
second.  Larger companies that do not provide training to their workers
would face a 1.5 percent payroll tax to cover training programs.  In
addition, as part of his health-reform plan, Clinton might end up
imposing a new payroll tax on companies that do not provide health
insurance to their workers.  Those taxes might have indirect impact on
workers, but they would not cover all companies.

	o Bush said Clinton's health plan would "deny you the right to
choose a doctor."

	While some of his rivals in the democratic primaries advocated
a totally government-run health-care system that would involve such a
limit, Clinton opposed that idea.  His health-care plan would retain the
current system of private insurance, but would require major changes in
the way insurance is sold.