Dole Asserts ‘Tax Cuts Work,’ Cites N.J.

Republican Bob Dole brought his tax-cutting, “pro-growth” economic agenda to one of the presidential campaign’s key battleground states Thursday, clearly hoping that the magic of New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman’s success will rub off on his White House bid.

Three years ago, polls showed Whitman far behind an incumbent Democratic governor who had raised taxes, but she transformed the race by proposing a 30% income tax cut. Although her plan was initially greeted with skepticism, much of the public embraced it and she won the election.

“We’re here to do for the American economy what Christie Whitman did for the New Jersey economy,” Dole told several thousand people at a lively midday rally in a park here. He was joined by Whitman and the GOP vice presidential candidate, Jack Kemp.

“Tax cuts work,” Dole said, asserting that it is possible to both cut taxes and balance the budget.

But he passed up the opportunity to detail the spending cuts almost certainly required to make up at least part of the difference in lost federal revenue as a result of his proposed six-year, $548-billion tax cut (the proposal presumes some revenue would be gained from an improved economy).

Rather, Dole reiterated his promise not to cut Medicare to help fund his plan, which includes an across-the-board 15% cut in income tax rates and a 50% reduction in the capital gains tax. Dole vowed to enact the tax cuts and balance the budget “while preserving and strengthening Medicare.” He also warned his listeners against a campaign by Democrats he said will aim to to “scare people, scare people, scare people!”

President Clinton and his aides have been criticizing Dole’s plan as ill-conceived since it was released earlier this month; on Thursday, Clinton campaign spokesman Joe Lockhart termed the proposal a “risky election-year scheme” that threatened to gut programs for health, education and environmental protection.

“The Democrats say you can’t balance a budget and cut taxes at the same time. We’re proving it can be done here in New Jersey,” Whitman said.

New Jersey is one of several states Republicans have carried in most recent presidential races but in which polls show Dole trailing. The Dole camp clearly sees Whitman’s experience in New Jersey as a paradigm for it--both in terms of politics and policy.

Indeed, Dole press secretary Nelson Warfield told reporters: “When skeptics question the viability of the pro-growth tax plan, we can point to New Jersey as the perfect example of a real-world success story.”

However, the early results of Whitman’s economic agenda appear more mixed. To be sure, as Whitman noted on Thursday, 135,000 new jobs have been created in the state under her stewardship. But New Jersey’s annual rate of employment growth still stands at about 1%, or half the national average. And the state ranks 38th among the states in job creation over the past 12 months, according to a May study by Salomon Brothers, the investment firm.

To help fund the tax cuts, Whitman raised fees for state services, cut aid to municipalities and turned off 5,500 lights on streets, above highway signs and at freeway interchanges throughout the state, among other moves.

Kemp preceded Dole at the lectern and said that if elected, their administration would not only cut taxes but also enact litigation reform, reduce government regulation, revamp the tax code and cut the federal bureaucracy.

Seeking to reassure those who fear cuts in government services, Kemp said he and Dole would “never allow this nation to forget the plight of those on the lower rungs of the ladder.”

Dole declined comment on an impending Clinton plan expected to restrict the marketing and sales of cigarettes to minors. “We’re taking the not-unreasonable position of waiting to see the regulations before commenting on it,” Warfield said.

Following their New Jersey stop, Dole and Kemp campaigned in Philadelphia, where they were greeted by another enthusiastic crowd. Dole again touted his tax plan, saying, “This is for all Americans--not the rich.”