Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 26, 1992 TAG: 9203260060
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Democratic leaders could not muster even a majority for overriding. The vote was 215-211 against overturning the veto; two-thirds would have been necessary to enact the reduction over Bush's veto. The compromise bill had passed Friday by a 211-189 margin.
The veto "is nothing less than a declaration of political war against the Congress," said Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., a chief author of the bill. "The real issue is tax fairness" for the middle class, he said.
Reps. Jim Olin, D-Roanoke; Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon; and L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County, were among the six Virginia members of Congress who voted to override. The other four voted against.
Bush, in a statement, said the vote "indicates broad support for my position in both parties. We don't need a tax increase. We do need an economic growth package that will spur savings and investments in this country and create new jobs." He urged Democrats to help pass his program.
House Republican Leader Robert Michel of Illinois criticized Democrats for making "a silly argument that a few-hundred-dollar tax cut is worth the price of a giant tax increase."
Earlier Wednesday, in a meeting with Republican congressional leaders, Bush urged "that we go the extra mile to have a strong show of support against this tax-and-spend legislation."
Bush said he is backed by the American people in his confrontation with the Democratic-dominated Congress. "I don't think there's a single American that feels that I haven't at least tried with the Congress. Every time they turn around they've had something jammed down their throats by majorities that simply are also aware of politics and want to put in play things that could not help this economy."
The tax cut, chiefly a permanent $300-per-child credit for middle-income families, would have gone to about 78 million families. The tax increase, including a maximum tax rate of 36 percent and a surtax on millionaires, would have hit about 1 million couples and individuals.
Bush vetoed the bill Friday because of the tax increases, even though it contained a version of six of the seven proposals he advanced for stimulating the economy in the short term.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 27, 1992.
Rep. Jim Olin's vote on a House of Representatives' proposal to override President Bush's tax cut veto was incorrectly reported in Wednesday's editions because of a copy editor's error. Olin voted against overriding the veto. Also, only three members of the Virginia delegation - Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon; L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County, and James Moran, D-Alexandria - voted in favor of overriding the veto.
Memo: CORRECTION