Dukakis Charges Bush Stands Would Require Tax Hike

Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis hammered Vice President George Bush again Saturday on Bush’s pledge not to raise taxes, charging that Bush is supporting Reagan Administration initiatives that require higher taxes.

And, at a news conference in Los Angeles, he made light of Bush’s description of a surtax required for the new catastrophic health insurance law as a “premium.”

“I understand yesterday he had some difficulty distinguishing between certain kinds of taxes and other taxes,” Dukakis said. “Where I come from, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s a duck.”

Financing Mechanism

Dukakis, the expected Democratic presidential nominee, also said the Administration’s trade legislation, which Bush supports, calls for taxes as a financing mechanism.

Bush argues that when he promises not to raise taxes he is talking about those taxes on income and on capital gains.

Dukakis continued to be coy on when he will announce his selection of a running mate.

“I’m going to take the time that’s necessary to make the very best choice I can. I don’t know if it will be (announced) before Atlanta,” he said, referring to the Democratic convention that begins July 18.

Some political professionals speculate that he will make the announcement before he addresses the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People this week, so that he can take the opportunity to explain to blacks why he did not choose the Rev. Jesse Jackson, if Jackson is not his choice.

Meanwhile, Jackson, appearing at a fund-raising meeting in Bel-Air, said that he and Dukakis have not discussed the vice presidential slot “in depth,” and asserted that such a discussion must take place.

While the two men have met several times since it became clear that the Massachusetts governor would win his party’s nomination, Jackson, who finished second in the primaries, said detailed discussions of Dukakis’ running mate and the party platform have been left to staff members.

“At some point,” Jackson told a news conference, “no doubt we will have to discuss (the issues) face to face, in depth and in detail to arrive at some resolution.”

Jackson made the remarks after a fund-raising meeting at the Bel-Air home of Los Angeles entertainment lawyer Larkin Arnold before flying to San Francisco for a round of meetings and speeches. He also said that he does not intend to walk out of the Atlanta convention, but that the proceedings will be lively, with extended discussions of minority planks that could spill over into television prime time hours.

‘Make a Difference’

“The threat is not that we are going to walk out,” he said, “the threat is that we are going to stay and expand and build and grow and make a difference.”

Bush has also said he has not decided on his Republican running mate, but in Lincoln, Neb., Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas said again that he is willing to talk to Bush about the vice presidential slot. He spoke at a news conference after an address to the Republican state convention.

Dukakis, who spoke in Los Angeles to students at the Evans Community Adult School before flying to campaign appearances in Portland and Seattle, stressed his kinship with the students, most of whom are Central American immigrants learning to speak English.

English and Spanish

Switching back and forth from English to Spanish, which he speaks fluently, Dukakis reminded the students that his father came to America in 1912 and went to night school to learn English and then went on to become a Harvard-trained doctor.

“You are looking at a man who is the son of immigrants,” Dukakis said, “people who came to this country because of the American dream.”

Dukakis hopes his rapport with Spanish-speaking voters will give him an edge in such states as California.