Hastert criticizes Clinton for vetoing tax cut for marriage couples

Angie Wagner

Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2000 | 8:57 a.m.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Tuesday he doesn't know why President Clinton vetoed a tax cut for married couples because Republicans had sought to make it a "no issues legislation."

"We don't think it makes sense," said Hastert, R-Ill., who chose to make his remarks while standing outside the Little Church of the West on the Las Vegas Strip.

Hastert was in town for a National Republican Congressional Committee fund-raiser and to lend support to local congressional candidate Jon Porter, who is seeking to unseat incumbent Democrat Rep. Shelley Berkley.

The so-called marriage penalty is the popular name for the extra taxes a structural quirk in the tax code requires 25 million couples to pay because they are married.

The legislation passed both the House and the Senate by less than the two-thirds majorities needed to override Clinton's veto. Clinton vetoed the $292 billion, 10-year tax cut Saturday, saying it amounted to little more than a gift to the wealthy.

"Either he was misinformed or he wasn't telling the truth," Hastert said Tuesday. "We tried to make this a no issues legislation."

But the bill also would cut taxes for about as many additional couples who now enjoy a marriage "bonus," paying less than they would pay if single. This largely affects families in which one spouse earns most of the family income.

Most of the bill's tax reductions come from enlarging the bottom 15 percent tax bracket and increasing the standard tax deduction for couples filing jointly.

Republicans argued that the measure would benefit millions of middle-class Americans while using just a small portion of the projected $2.2 trillion, 10-year federal surplus.

Clinton said the tax plan was regressive. He said it would provide little relief to families that need it most, while devoting a large fraction of its benefits to families with higher incomes.

Clinton and the Democrats are trying to offer their own tax cut package while arguing that Republicans are giving away the store.

Marc and Kristel Lederer appeared Tuesday with their 18-month old daughter, Lillian, to talk about what the extra money they pay in taxes could do for them.

"We always try and be frugal," said Lederer, whose wife stays home with their daughter while Lederer teaches school. "This would help us a lot, help us buy a computer."

Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill., also in town for the fund-raiser, said Clinton and Vice President Al Gore just want to spend the extra tax dollars to create new Washington-based programs.

Gore, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has said he agreed with the veto but would sign a different tax cut for married couples.

"Bill Clinton's veto is bad politics for Al Gore," said Weller, a prominent advocate of reducing the marriage penalty.

GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush has criticized the veto.

Weller said he hopes Republicans can convince enough Democrats to support an override of the veto when the House returns from recess next month.

"What better thing can we do to eliminate one unnecessary strain on family finances?" Weller said.

Porter called Clinton's veto just "an attempt to say no to a Republican tax issue."

"I think people are tired of that," he said.

Congressman Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., also attended the news conference.