TAXES: Fact Sheet - 8/20/92 August 20, 1992 TRUE CONFESSIONS: CLINTON ADMITS TAXES ARE HIS TOP ECONOMIC PRIORITY o On Wednesday night, in an interview with Tom Brokaw, Bill Clinton was given the opportunity to name just one economic growth proposal by the Democratic Congress with which he agreed. He hesitated, then blurted out that the proposal with which he agreed the most was the Democrats' tax bill "passed . . . through the Congress just a few months ago that George Bush vetoed that I thought was a pretty good bill." -- This is an amazingly candid admission by Clinton that the only economic growth proposals he can conceive of involve $100 billion plus tax increases, much like his own plan. -- Clinton's admission represents a fundamental difference between the two presidential candidates. Clinton believes the only way to increase economic growth is to impose massive tax increases. George Bush believes the best way to create growth is to keep taxes low, cut government spending, and provide incentives for business growth. -- In short, George Bush vetoed this tax bill; Bill Clinton would have signed it. o Let's look at what Clinton thought was good for America. The bill would have raised taxes by more than $100 billion and would have cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. The President had sent to Congress an economic growth plan. The Democrats sent back a tax hike -- at a time when new revenues were completely unnecessary. -- More than two-thirds of all taxpayers facing increases in the Democrats' bill were owners of small businesses and entrepreneurs -- the people who have created two-thirds of America's new jobs. o Not content with just proposing tax hikes, Clinton also had the audacity to call for spending discipline -- this from the candidate who has proposed at least $220 billion in new spending, not counting the cost of his play-or-pay health plan, (an added $197 billion over four years). o With his endorsement of the Democratic Congress' $100 billion tax bill, Clinton is admitting that the only debate between the White House and the Congress in the first year of a Clinton Administration would be how large a tax hike they would impose on businesses and family farms. o President Bush was right to veto this bill. As President Bush said in his veto message, "This is not the time to raise taxes, increase the deficit, or send a message of fiscal irresponsibility to the financial markets." o The choice is clear: between a President who vetoes tax increases, and a candidate who proposes them. August 19, 1992 RESPONSE ON IMMIGRATION SECTION OF THE PLATFORM o The word "structure" in the immigration section of the Platform does not refer to, or mean to imply that the Republican Party supports the construction of a wall or physical barrier along the border with Mexico. -- The sentence in which the word "structure" appears reads, "[W]e will equip the Border Patrol with the tools, technologies, and structures necessary to secure the border." -- This sentence refers to the need to build newer detention centers, fences around centers, gate, etc., that are necessary for the Border Patrol to complete its mission -- including adequately housing illegal immigrants if they have been apprehended. -- The notion that the Platform should endorse the construction of a physical barrier, like a wall, was rejected by Platform delegates. o The overall tone of the Platform is strongly supportive of the contributions immigrants have made, and continue to make, to American society. As the Platform says: "Our Nation of immigrants continues to welcome those seeking a better life." # # #