Gore Calls for More Robust Tax-Cut Proposal

Vice President Al Gore on Thursday doubled his proposed tax cut, offering a $500-billion reduction over 10 years to help the middle class pay for, among other things, education and health care.

Speaking at a family owned wholesale produce company on the outskirts of Cincinnati, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president said growth of the federal budget surplus frees the government to increase the size of the tax cuts targeted at working families. Last July he had called for tax cuts of $250 billion.

“Right now, we are experiencing some of the greatest economic success we have ever had,” said Gore, sitting on a sack of long grain rice in a cavernous warehouse, his cowboy boot-clad foot balanced on a box of potatoes.

“Now, instead of the biggest deficits ever, we have the biggest surpluses.”

After announcing the new $500-billion figure, Gore recounted elements of his tax cut announced earlier.

The vice president’s proposal includes the elimination of the so-called marriage penalty and refundable tax credits for health care, child care and after-school programs. He also would give a $3,000 tax credit to help with long-term care costs and allow families to save up to $10,000 tax free for college tuition.

Gore also would create independent savings accounts to complement the traditional Social Security benefits. Gore said that he would detail this “Social Security plus” plan next week as he continues his “progress and prosperity” tour through key battleground states.

“This tax relief package for middle-income families can help to solve the most important challenges that families face today,” said Gore, warning that Republican George W. Bush’s much larger tax-cut plan could return the country to deficits.

Texas Gov. Bush, the presumptive GOP nominee, has called for cutting taxes by $1.3 trillion over 10 years, with the poorest workers paying 10% and the richest 33%.

Gore spent about an hour Thursday in the warehouse playing talk show host with a group of 10 people assembled to demonstrate how they would benefit from his tax-cut plan.

The vice president chatted with a young couple about the marriage penalty and a single mom about child care costs, murmuring sympathies about their financial constraints and promising that his proposal would help them.