  
|
| |||||||
|
"Scam" ads the norm Trail Mix: Hillary haters spam cyberspace Gunning for the center Democrats make Hillary legit The blundering pundit Don Giuliani Campaign video: |
Bush denounces Forbes ad
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Jan. 10, 2000 | GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. --
Sen. John McCain chimed in, saying that the federal tax cut Bush is proposing now would spend all the projected budget surplus and $20 billion more, with benefits going to people who don't need them. He also said the Bush plan would not guarantee funds to guard future Social Security benefits. The tax hassle was the keynote dispute as the six Republican presidential candidates met in a 90-minute televised debate.
Bush said he has twice led his state to the biggest tax cuts in its history. His packages included offsetting increases in sales taxes, but Bush said the result was lower levies on Texans. "I am a tax cutting person," Bush said. "I know how to get it done." As president, he said, he would see to it that rates are cut for every American. Forbes wasn't budging, saying he stood by his ad. "A pledge should not be used as a trinket to win an election," he said. "The ad is accurate. ... You did break that pledge." He said things like that make Americans cynical about politics. Bush shot back, "One thing that makes the American people cynical is negative advertisements on TV." The Forbes ad points to a 1994 vow Bush made while running for governor, signing a pledge to an anti-tax group that he would "oppose any legislation establishing a state personal income tax or increasing the sales tax." Bush in 1997 supported a tax-cut bill that included some sales tax increases -- an action critics say violated the pledge. The bill didn't pass; Bush later signed a tax-cut measure into law, saying he supported the earlier bill in order to move the process along. McCain was asked whether he would have negotiated with hijackers as the Indian government did to gain the release of airliner hostages. "No, never," McCain said. "Next question." The Arizona senator went on to say that as president, he would have mounted a commando operation. The retired Naval officer and Vietnam POW said that he would have had the tires shot out and the airliner involved "would not have taken off again." Bush said he agreed with McCain. In turn, the GOP candidates, Alan Keyes, Sen. Orrin Hatch, Gary Bauer, Forbes, McCain and Bush all declared that Elian Gonzalez, the 6-year-old Cuban boy whose mother died in escaping to Florida, should not be returned to Cuba. They also said the boy's father, who wants him returned, should be brought to the United States to make the decision. The nationally televised debate, the third in five days for the Republicans, was staged at Calvin College in a state Bush calls his "firewall." A victory in Michigan would help him rebound if he gets upset in earlier primary states. McCain has made the Feb. 22 Michigan primary one of his top four targets, along with contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. The Jan. 24 Iowa caucuses open this year's election cycle. In two debates last week, the candidates also wrestled with competing tax-cutting philosophies. Bush wants $483 billion in reductions over five years, with some of the money returned to low- and middle-income Americans to fit his "compassionate conservative" slogan. McCain, who plans to flesh out his plans Tuesday, is proposing a $240 billion, five-year package that expands the lowest income tax bracket and creates tax-free savings accounts for the middle class. The Arizona senator's plan is smaller than Bush's because he would save 60 percent of future government surpluses to protect Social Security. The surplus also would be spent on Medicare and reducing the national debt, under McCain's plan. Taking a swipe at Bush, McCain said at a Holland, Mich., town hall meeting, "I don't think it is conservative to ignore the Social Security Trust Fund ... the problems of Medicare or a $5.6 trillion debt." Bush dismissed McCain's plan, which is a revision of a smaller package produced by the Arizona senator in June. Using reporters to send McCain a message, Bush said: "Is this your final tax plan?" Forbes still supports a flat tax, an income tax overhaul he touted in his failed 1996 campaign. The millionaire magazine publisher has broadened his message to include social issues in an attempt to court conservative voters. McCain is trying to change the subject from ethics to taxes, after spending a week fielding journalists' questions about his work in the Senate on behalf of major donors. In the town hall meeting, a voter asked McCain to explain himself "I was doing my job and we're releasing all the letters I've written" to federal agencies on behalf of political supporters, McCain said. "But, look, this is a tough business and I understand these things happen along the way." The centerpiece of McCain's campaign is a promise to clean up the political culture. © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - Search Salon |
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
More news on 
