Gore Attacks Dole Tax Plan as Destructive to Medicare

Responding to Bob Dole’s escalating attacks against President Clinton on the question of trust, Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday vigorously returned fire by focusing on the issue that increasingly is the touchstone for Democratic attacks on the GOP--Medicare.

Speaking to hundreds of Floridians at an upscale senior citizens center, Gore said Dole’s proposal for a 15% cut in income tax rates would “lead to Medicare’s destruction” by requiring deep cuts in benefits to help offset the loss of federal revenue.

Dole contends the tax cut would spark economic growth that would negate the need for significant changes to Medicare benefits, though his proposal does envision cuts in other federal programs.

Gore’s counterpart on the GOP ticket, Jack Kemp, also appeared before an audience of seniors on Tuesday--this one in Las Vegas--and sought to turn the use of the Medicare issue on its head.

Kemp, repeating charges both he and Dole have made in recent weeks, accused the Democrats of engaging in “scare tactics” and “despicable politics” for suggesting that the GOP-controlled Congress tried to slash Medicare benefits, as well as damage other popular federal programs.

“The only thing this administration has to offer is fear itself,” Kemp said at a rally at a retirement community. “Fear of a Republican Congress, fear of Social Security, fear of Medicare, fear of the environment, fear of spotted owls. They are running the most unbelievable campaign.”

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Referring to the financial difficulties that virtually all observers agree will face Medicare as the baby-boom generation ages, Kemp added: “You cannot solve the Medicare crisis by scaring people. You cannot solve it outside the framework of a healthy economy.”

Gore’s appearance in Florida--a traditionally Republican state in recent presidential campaigns, but where the current race is viewed as a tossup--was part of the Democratic Party’s “nationwide roll-out” of campaign events this week featuring seniors’ support for Clinton’s reelection.

Gore said that Dole, as a Kansas congressman in 1965, voted against Medicare’s creation and thus cannot be trusted to preserve the federal health care program for seniors.

Tellingly, when Gore parroted a phrase uttered by House Speaker Newt Gingrich last year--suggesting that he expected Medicare eventually to “wither on the vine”--many in the audience joined the vice president in enunciating the controversial phrase, which continues to receive prominent mention in Democratic ads here.

Gore lambasted what he called the “Dole-Gingrich” budget last year that included a seven-year, $270-billion reduction in the growth of Medicare while proposing a tax cut of roughly the same amount.

Clinton vetoed that budget, but later proposed a balanced budget of his own that would have reduced the growth of Medicare spending by $124 billion. Dole has embraced a subsequent GOP budget plan that would slow that growth by about $168 billion

In Las Vegas, Kemp’s defense of the GOP position on Medicare did little to calm the nerves of Chuck Dargan, 69, a retired marketing executive who formerly resided in San Juan Capistrano.

“I’m scared to death about Republicans’ Medicare proposals,” said Dargan, a one-time Republican who said he now leans toward the Democrats. “I’m not happy with everything about the Democrats, but the Republican policies make me more uneasy.’

But William Schaefer, 72, a retired music executive, said it was Clinton who makes him uneasy.

“The president is the most unethical one we’ve ever had,” Schaefer said. “I don’t want my kids or my grandkids to be like him.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Preparing for Tonight’s Debate

Time: 6-7:30 p.m. PDT

Moderator: Jim Lehrer of PBS

TV coverage:

Carried live by the networks, except for Fox Broadcasting, which will televise baseball.

Format: Town hall style with moderator. Lehrer will randomly select questioners from the 120 men and women from San Diego County who have been invited to watch the final debate. Lehrer is allowed to ask for a question on a certain topic.