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

DATE: TUESDAY, July 27, 1993                   TAG: 9307290453
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CREATIVE ACCOUNTING IN WASHINGTON

The Senate will soon be asked to vote on the largest tax increase in American history. Although I support the President's goal on deficit reduction, I support it on the basis ofcutting spending, not raising taxes. Twenty-one years of running a small business in a highly competitive industry is where I come from.

The current fable being promoted is that this plan will raise $1.00 in taxes for every $1.00 in spending cuts. To that I say bull fertilizer. This taxpayer views the package from a real world perspective, not one so distorted by Washington, D.C. creative accounting as to be fiction. For example:

1. $44 billion in spending cuts are currently required by law and are not new spending cuts. 2. The $55 billion reduction in interest payments is not a spending cut; we will hopefully borrow less and spend less on interest. 3. The $15 billion user-fee increase is a new fee/tax increase. 4. The $24 billion in taxes in Social Security benefits is a tax increase.

My numbers add up to $296 billion in net tax increases offset by $103 billion in net spending cuts with a savings of $55 billion in interest for a total deficit reduction of $454 billion dollars.

We get $2.88 worth of new taxes for each dollar in spending cuts. THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE! When I factor in that many so called Washington spending cuts are simply a cut in program growth from the previous year, the picture becomes even more disturbing.

Let's put together a package of spending cuts that is real world. We need no more of the tax and spend that Congress has perfected for so many years. Now is the time to break the cycle of increased taxes and increased federal spending. If Congress hasn't the courage to make the tough but right decisions for the future good of our country perhaps it's time for a change. BILL CORBITT ROANOKE

by CNB