You know what's really irresponsible Tiger? Democrats who are unwilling to look beyond the platitudes and emotions and into fiscal reality. Do you think any of the posters here who claim to be *so concerned* with the deficit, have bothered to perform even the most basic arithmetic after hearing Gore's speech?
HERE'S THE PLAN: SIPHON THE SURPLUS
Saturday,August 19,2000
nypost.com
By MARILYN RAUBER
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WASHINGTON - Al Gore's promised bag of goodies - the best schools in the world, health care for all kids, a cure for cancer, middle-class tax cuts - could come with a $1 trillion price tag.
Gore didn't mention the costs or how he'd pay for the long list of promises he made in Thursday night's acceptance speech at the Democratic convention.
But the Gore camp has these magic words for skeptics: It's the budget surplus, stupid!
"All of his proposals fit within the balanced budget," campaign spokesman Doug Hattaway said yesterday.
"He thinks you can use the surplus wisely by making smart investments," Hattaway added.
The hook for both Gore and GOP rival George W. Bush's spending plans for the nation is the projected $1.8 trillion, 10-year federal surplus - but Gore's spending proposals could end up eating half of it.
"Instead of the biggest deficits in history, we now have the biggest surpluses," Gore told the convention as he vowed to "make sure that our prosperity enriches not just the few, but all working families."
Just eight of Gore's major spending ideas add up to more than $1 trillion, according to a New York Times report yesterday.
Gore aide Chris Lehane told reporters the campaign hasn't even priced some of the spending proposals.
Gore's pledge to provide health coverage for all kids by 2004 would cost $24 billion over five years, and his vow "to find new medicines and new cures" by doubling research funding could amount to more than $30 billion a year.
The campaign has put a price tag on beefing up public schools - $115 billion over the next decade to make them "the best in the world."
Gore's $500 billion, 10-year tax-cut proposal is about half the size of rival George W. Bush's, which Gore calls "risky."
It would get rid of the marriage penalty for some couples and ease the estate tax - at a cost of almost $160 billion over the next decade - and would allow parents to deduct college tuition fees, at a cost of more than $10 billion a year.
Tax breaks to encourage retirement nest eggs - as a supplement to Social Security - likely would cost $500 billion over 15 years.
In reaching out to seniors, Gore said he wants universal Medicare prescription drug coverage - at a cost of more than $250 billion over 10 years.
Gore also pledged to balance the budget every year, save Social Security, pay off the national debt by 2012, and put more cops on the street. |
