Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 26, 1990 TAG: 9006260522
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Bush's initial statement did not provide specifics on taxes, but Democrats immediately hailed it as presidential acceptance for a tax increase.
"The president has concluded that tax increases are necessary and we share the president's view," said Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, who, along with other congressional leaders, met with the president.
"We are not willing to give it any definition," White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said of Bush's statement. "That's a matter for the negotiators."
"No decision has been made with respect to any specific measures," Mitchell agreed.
The president issued the statement as he met at the White House with top congressional leaders to review the sluggish negotiations on a plan to reduce the deficit.
Bush also called for cuts in spending for federal benefits as well as other domestic and defense programs, and said congressional leaders agreed with him.
"The budget negotiations will resume promptly with a view toward reaching substantive agreement as quickly as possible," Bush's statement said.
Deficit estimates have increased substantially since Bush unveiled his proposed 1991 budget in January and red ink may total more than $200 billion in the next fiscal year.
Until now, when asked whether the president would accept higher taxes, Bush and his aides have repeatedly said that they have stopped using Bush's campaign pledge of "No new taxes."
At a news conference, congressional Democratic leaders refused to say whether they thought he had broken his campaign pledge.
However, they also made clear they thought the political landscape had changed.
"Someone who is complaining about taxes being raised in the budget summit will have to complain against both parties and the president if they wish to make that kind of complaint," said House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash.
Other elements that Bush said must be included in a deficit-reduction plan were cuts in federal benefit programs, other domestic initiatives and defense; reforms in the federal budget process and "growth incentives."
The term growth incentives is often used to describe a reduction in the capital gains tax. The president says such a cut would stimulate economic growth, while opponents say it would simply be a gift to the wealthy, who own most of the real estate and other property that would qualify for the reduction.
The fiscal 1991 budget Bush unveiled in January contained $19.7 billion in new taxes, user fees and other revenues. Some congressional leaders have complained throughout seven weeks of budget negotiations that that amount is insufficient to take a serious bite out of the deficit.
by CNB