An announcement on the controversial deal, which would cut taxes by $725 billion over 10 years and is expected to be vetoed by President Clinton, is expected tonight.
Eager for a veto showdown with Clinton — who has said that the earlier GOP plans would “imperil the future stability of the country” — Republicans intend to push the resulting measure through the both houses of Congress by week’s end.
The deal also includes capital gains tax relief for individuals as well as a writeoff for people who buy their own insurance and education savings accounts for grades K through 12.
Hoping the Public Agrees
The legislation won’t make its way to the White House until Congress returns to the Capitol from its long August break. Republicans hope that when it returns, public opinion will turn to their position. A recent ABCNEWS poll showed that only 22 percent of Americans picked a tax cut as the best way to spend the new surplus in the federal budget, while more than twice as many said Social Security was their top priority.
“We also would like to take our message to the American people
and say, ‘Do you understand that for you, this bill will mean you’ll be able to save for your retirement or for your children’s education?’” said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. “And then when we come back, I believe that the members will feel very good about a tax relief package for working Americans. ”
White House Likely to Veto
Last month, both the House and Senate passed different versions of tax-cut bills but they agreed on the total amount, $792 billion. The House favored an across-the-board 10 percent reduction in income taxes while the Senate version reduced the 15 percent rate to 14 percent.
Democrats offered a $290 billion package of cuts while a group of Senate moderates from both parties tried to split the difference as they crafted a $500 billion plan. Neither version made it through the GOP-controlled Congress.
The White House made it clear that either of the original Republican plans was unacceptable, mostly because of size. Clinton wanted to use the balance to help shore up Social Security and Medicare while also paying for some new federal programs.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Clinton said in his July 24 radio address, referring to the dollar difference between the Republican and Democratic plans.
“It’s almost like the arguments we used to have when I was at school,” the president said. He mocked the Republicans as saying, “Our tax cut is bigger than your tax cut.”
Let Clinton Veto, GOP Says
Today, Lott suggested it was Clinton who was being unreasonable. “Maybe the president will conclude at
some point that he needs to work with us. I have seen no
movement and no indication at this point that he really wants to
do something,” he told reporters.
House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas said Republicans had not given up hope that Clinton will sign the final bill.
“But if he vetoes them, we think he’ll find he’s disappointed the American people and [Clinton] is a man who will disappoint everyone in
his life except his pollster,” Armey said.
Assuming Clinton follows through on his veto threat, Lott said he was willing to let the $792 billion go to bring down the national debt rather than for a compromise plan that would lead to more federal spending.
“If we can’t reduce the taxes for working Americans because the president vetoes it, then I would prefer that we leave it there and it be used to reduce the debt for the benefit of my son and daughter and grandson,” he said.
The negotiations on Capitol Hill to develop a final tax bill were as polarized as the rhetoric emanating from both sides during earlier debates. House Republicans who were members of the conference committee set up camp in one room while Senate Republican members were in another.
Democrats did not take part in the discussions, although Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the senior Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, checked in with his House colleagues.
“It’s like they have two Christmas lists and they’re selecting the best from each list knowing Santa won’t come,” Rangel said.
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, some lawmakers tried to avert what looks like the inevitable — a presidential veto. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, a moderate Republican, released a letter she sent to Lott, urging that a final House-Senate deal be held up in hopes there could be a “negotiated, bipartisan agreement … achieved in September that ultimately addresses a variety of needs.”
ABCNEWS correspondent Linda Douglass contributed to this report, which also includes information from The Associated Press.
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