Unions to Campaign Against Tax Cuts

Labor unions plan to counter a White House effort to sell President Bush’s tax cuts with an opposition campaign this week in 30 cities, a labor spokesman said Tuesday.

The effort also coincides with the last week of the congressional recess. Rallies, meetings and other events are scheduled in key congressional districts to send a message to lawmakers that their constituents are opposed to Bush’s tax cuts, said Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO’s legislative director.

Congress is back in session Monday, and determining the size of the tax cut package is at the top of the to-do list.

“I think Republicans are becoming more aware of the economic difficulty their constituents are facing,” Samuel said. “They’re more sensitive to it and they’re not willing to jump off a cliff for this administration.”

Seizing on the financial crises plaguing the states, labor leaders are highlighting even deeper cuts that they say are coming if massive tax cuts pass Congress. Teachers, law enforcement officials, doctors, nurses and unemployed workers will tell their stories across the country, Samuel said.

Four events are planned in Ohio today, the day before Bush visits Canton and an Army tank plant, where he also plans to tout his tax cuts and talk about the war.

Ohio also is the home state of Sen. George Voinovich, one of the few Republican senators who have defied Bush’s wishes for a tax cut of more than $550 billion over 10 years.

Bush originally proposed a $726-billion package, but he couldn’t muster enough support in Congress during a time of war and rising deficits. The White House has signaled it could accept a $550-billion proposal endorsed by the House. But the Senate drew the line at $350 billion in a deal cut with Voinovich and Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine).

Samuel said union members and other community leaders will laud Voinovich at the Ohio events for his support of “more reasonable and sensible” tax cuts.

They also will highlight the continued job losses in the state -- 202,300 as of January 2001.