Tax And Spending

ARLINGTON, VA -- Democrats think they have found their deliverer. He is the new governor of Virginia, Timothy Kaine. So confident are they that Mr. Kaine can lead them to the electoral promised land, they have tapped him to deliver their party's response to President Bush's State of the Union speech. Given the threats posed by foreign and domestic terrorists, Democrats risk exposing Mr. Kaine as an inexperienced lightweight who is not in the president's league of knowledge and experience.

WASHINGTON -- In a year-end push to show voters they are tending to the nation's economic health, House members launched a tax-cutting spree yesterday that could culminate with passage of measures to extend capital gains and dividend tax reductions today. The House overwhelmingly passed two bills to limit the number of people who pay the alternative minimum tax and to treat combat pay as earned income under the earned income tax credit. But the tax cuts could pose a political problem for Republicans as they struggle to bat away allegations of corruption and questions about their competence controlling the levers of government.

WASHINGTON - The head of Congress' auditing arm warned yesterday that "imprudent and unsustainable" federal borrowing is driving the nation toward a fiscal crisis. The comments by David M. Walker, head of the General Accounting Office, come as a number of conservatives have begun to criticize the Bush administration and the Republican-led Congress for failing to hold the line on spending. Both branches of government are blinded by political "nearsightedness and tunnel vision" and are failing to see that government borrowing is out of control, Walker said at a breakfast meeting with reporters.

WASHINGTON - With the help of some centrist Democrats, the White House and Congress struck a budget deal yesterday that would boost federal spending more than President Bush wanted and cut taxes less than he proposed but would give Bush most of what he pushed for. While nonbinding, the annual budget blueprint, which both the House and Senate are expected to approve today, carries more weight than it has in some years because one party - the Republicans -...

WASHINGTON - The House Budget Committee last night endorsed President Bush's blueprint for spending and tax cuts that relies on projections of huge budget surpluses from a booming economy, despite growing warnings on Wall Street that those surpluses might not materialize. The vote was 23-19 and followed party lines. Several of the majority Republicans on the committee argued that concerns about a weakening economy made it even more important to move quickly on the tax cuts. "We are clearly in the midst of an economic slowdown, but that doesn't mean we have to be a helpless victim," said Rep. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican.

WASHINGTON - Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening and other Democratic chief executives expressed concern yesterday about President Bush's proposal for a 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut, which comes as the economy shows signs it may be slowing. "There is some concern as to how that impact would hit us and when," Glendening said at a news conference to open the four-day winter meeting of the National Governors' Association. Bush, who will fully detail his tax and spending priorities to Congress this week, has said that the tax cut is justified by projected surpluses and his plan to hold the growth rate of most programs to 4 percent.

The General Assembly will not cut income taxes this year despite having a $1 billion surplus, key lawmakers said yesterday. They said the state should instead spend its riches on education and other priorities. Their assessment came after state officials announced that Maryland's fiscal picture -- while still rosy -- isn't getting any rosier. The release of revenue projections for the next few months dashed any remaining hopes to cut income taxes this year. "You can't spend and cut at the same time.

MARYLAND'S two contenders for governor hold starkly different views on tax and spending issues. It's where the liberal-conservative gulf between Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey is most apparent.Ms. Sauerbrey's prime theme, as it was in 1994, is tax cuts -- a fat reduction in income tax rates and far lower taxes for seniors. Mr. Glendening's focus is on enlarging state programs. You name it and he's promised more money.Neither candidate is being candid. The Republican challenger avoids the unpopular question of how she would underwrite such huge tax cuts; the Democratic incumbent fails to explain how he would finance his add-ons.

LAS VEGAS -- President Clinton yesterday firmly rejected the Republican budget proposal, declaring that it "shortchanges our nation's future" by eliminating nearly all of his new domestic initiatives on education, job training and child care.Employing sharply partisan language and speaking to a cheering, sympathetic crowd of union members of the AFL-CIO, Clinton set out on a collision course with theRepublican-controlled Congress over how the nation should spend its first projected surplus in 30 years.

As they seek support for their income tax-cutting proposals, Gov. Parris N. Glendening, House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. and others face a sharply focused coalition of opponents who argue that a tax cut now would not be good for Maryland.Labor leaders, senior citizen organizations and religious groups have formed a partnership to lobby against the cuts. The group is showering legislators with studies, statistics and a series of tax "facts, myths and realities." One of these:"Myth: Marylanders are clamoring for a tax cut."