
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1992                   TAG: 9203040141
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: ROSEMONT, ILL.                                LENGTH: Medium

BUSH: TAX DEAL WAS MISTAKE SENATE PANEL OKS DEMOCRATS' CUT FOR MIDDLE CLASS

President Bush said Tuesday he made a mistake in 1990 when he reneged on his campaign promise not to raise taxes and agreed to an increase as part of a compromise with Congress.

Speaking to reporters during a brief campaign stop in Illinois, the president said the decision to retreat from his pledge "probably wasn't worth it," given the "political flak" that has ensued.

Now, on the campaign trail, Bush finds himself pummeled on the issue both from the Democratic candidates and his GOP rival, Patrick Buchanan.

As Bush was expressing his regret over the tax increase, the Senate Finance Committee was approving its Democrat-backed alternative to the president's tax-cut plan. A key feature of the Democrats' plan would raise taxes on the rich to finance a middle-class tax cut.

If anyone had doubted it before, the president's remarks Tuesday served to reiterate opposition to such a measure and his plan to respond to it with a swift and emphatic veto.

Approval by the Finance Committee came on an 11-9 party-line vote as Democrats joined forces to push through the proposal drafted by the committee's chairman, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas.

The measure, which would provide middle-income families with a tax credit of $300 for each child under 16, is expected to go to the Senate floor sometime next week. The House already has passed a similar version.

The outlook for the Democratic tax bill in the Senate still is uncertain. Although Democratic leaders had difficulty mustering enough votes in committee Tuesday, the measure is somewhat more popular in the full Senate.

Besides Bentsen's own tax proposals, the package includes all seven of the emergency "economic growth" tax provisions that Bush asked Congress to enact by March 20 - ranging from added cuts in capital gains tax rates to new home-buying incentives.

It also contains several elements long sought by key Democrats, from proposals for direct government loans to students to provisions to broaden workers' access to medical insurance.

But the Bentsen plan radically dilutes Bush's capital gains tax-cut proposal and alters many of the president's other provisions. Many Democrats still found fault with the tax provisions, even though their own proposals were included.

by CNB