[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 17, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10661-S10662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SENATOR DOLE'S ECONOMIC PACKAGE

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I wish to make a couple comments in 
response to my colleague from Nebraska. He made a very strong statement 
against Senator Dole's economic package. Let me make a couple of 
statements in rebuttal to that.
  The Senator quoted a poll which said that 64 percent of the American 
people do not believe there is really going to be a tax cut. A lot of 
people are very skeptical of politicians, in particular when they make 
statements as it pertains to taxes and you look back in history a 
little bit. George Bush said, ``Read my lips. There will be no new 
taxes.'' And he passed a tax increase, and I believe it cost him his 
reelection.
  Bill Clinton, when he was campaigning in 1992, campaigned on a tax 
cut, told people throughout the country there would be a tax cut, 
talked about a $500 tax credit per child, or at least a tax credit for 
families, but it did not happen. As a matter of fact, in 1993, there 
was not only not a tax cut but the largest tax increase in history.
  So a lot of people are very cynical when politicians talk about 
taxes, maybe because for the last few years they have not seen people 
follow through with what they stated they were going to do. That quite 
possibly is understandable.
  Candidate Bill Clinton in his book said there would not be an 
increase in the gasoline tax, but he actually did. He passed a gasoline 
tax increase, as we all know. He did not tell people there was going to 
be an increase on Social Security recipients, but there was.
  So my point is, yes, there may be some people who are cynical, but 
that does not mean that just because Bill Clinton did not do what he 
said he was going to do Bob Dole will not. I have had the pleasure of 
serving with Bob Dole, and he is a man of his word, and he is very 
sincere. He is very sincere about cutting taxes and reducing the growth 
of spending. I will just mention that he doesn't even cut spending. He 
slows the growth of spending under his proposal. The facts are we are 
spending $1.55 trillion right now, and under Senator Dole's proposal we 
are going to end up spending about $1.8 trillion in the year 2001. But 
he does commit to balancing the budget. That is doable. We have done 
it. President Clinton, unfortunately, vetoed it.
  Can you cut taxes and reduce the growth of spending and still end up 
with a balanced budget in a few years? Yes; you can. We have proved 
that you can.
  I want to allude to one other thing that was mentioned. It is said, 
well, Senator Dole's tax cut is paid for by voodoo economics, or it is 
going to provide tax cuts to pay for itself. That is not the case. He 
took a very conservative assumption that the tax cuts proposed in his 
proposal would stimulate growth and that would pay for about 27 
percent--not even half, 27 percent.
  So I just make mention of the fact that some people assume this 
really does stimulate the economy and therefore pay for itself. Some 
people make that assumption. Senator Dole did not. He said it will 
stimulate the economy; the economy will grow a lot faster. It has grown 
a lot faster. The growth of the economy for the last 3 years has really 
been pretty anemic--about 2.2 percent compared to the last 10 or 12 
years when it has been about 3.3 percent, about 50 percent higher. We 
can do better. We should do better. I hope we will do better.

  I also heard a statement, well, very little is in Senator Dole's 
package that would stimulate the economy. I disagree. Allowing people 
to keep more of their own money, when you are talking about the child 
credit--Senator Dole's package has provision for a $500 tax credit per 
child. That is very family friendly. That says families, if you have 
four kids and you are making $60,000, maybe two people working, you are 
going to have $2,000 more of your own money to spend at the local 
restaurants or at schools or for your family. That is going to help 
those businesses. Those businesses are going to

[[Page S10662]]

make more money. They are going to generate more jobs. It is going to 
help the economy and, I believe, actually spend it better than how the 
Government would spend it.
  He also cuts the capital gains rate in half. Some people disagree 
with that. I believe we have at least a strong majority vote in the 
Congress to do it, because if you reduce the tax on financial 
transactions, you are going to have more. Some countries do not even 
tax financial transactions.
  I think there are several things in Senator Dole's proposal that will 
stimulate the economy, that will balance the budget. He is also calling 
for a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. So he is sincere 
about doing it. I think he will do it. In spite of the fact that maybe 
one or two of his predecessors did not do what they said they were 
going to do, did not follow through, did not tell the truth to the 
American people, I believe Senator Dole is telling the truth. He is a 
man of his word. We will cut taxes. We will balance the budget. We will 
pass a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. I think that is 
significant, it is positive, and it will help the American economy and 
help American families as well.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. PRESSLER addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. PRESSLER. I do not want to cut off anybody, but I am trying to 
call up a bill that is a major bill. I do not want to block the 
Senator.
  Does the Senator have a brief statement he wants to make?
  Mr. INHOFE. Yes. I will be very brief.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the Senator from 
Oklahoma.

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