ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602220037
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
THE REPUBLICANS' proposals would radically change government.
He was the first Republican candidate to call for flat income tax. Not Steve Forbes. But Pat Buchanan, who won more votes from flat-tax supporters in New Hampshire than Forbes or anyone else.
Buchanan's support of a flat tax is one of the not-so-dirty little secrets of the 1996 campaign.
Buried under the rubble of television attack ads are piles of proposals from the candidates, proposals that would radically change the government. There's everything from a flat tax to a new armed service to fight illegal immigration and drugs, to tax credits to allow the Salvation Army and other private charities to take over welfare.
The three major candidates - Buchanan, Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas and former Gov. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee - all agree on some issues, most notably the need to balance the federal budget and to cut taxes.
But they differ widely on how they would balance the budget, how much they would cut taxes, and on many other issues.
What they promise to do may get lost in the passion of the primary season, when campaigns turn on 60-second television commercials and personal attacks. But what they promise to do often is a guide to how they would govern if elected.
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: chart - Where they stand. AP KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB