Dole v. Forbes: Who's Telling The Truth?

January 31, 1996

By Brooks Jackson/CNN

WASHINGTON -- It's in the Republican Contract: A balanced federal budget, written into the U.S. Constitution. The House approved it, with 228 Republicans for and two against. In the Senate, 51 Republicans voted for it, and only two against. Another vote there and the amendment would have passed.

But in the Republican presidential campaign, one candidate is under attack for opposing the balanced budget amendment. This is what a new TV ad for Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) claims about rival Malcolm S. "Steve" Forbes Jr.: "For 17 years, Steve Forbes opposed a balanced budget amendment, calling a balanced budget 'bogus' and writing, 'We don't really need a balanced budget amendment.' As a political candidate, he's shifted his position.''

Forbes, however, claims that's twisted. His counter-ad, attacking Dole, says: "Bob Dole is running another distorted, negative ad. Steve Forbes supports a balanced budget amendment that will cut taxes and make it harder for politicians to raise taxes."

Which is it? Viewers of these ads could be confused, but not readers of Forbes magazine, where Forbes has editorialized against a balanced budget amendment for years. In 1979, the magazine said, "no one should take the idea seriously...." And in 1982, Forbes called it "constitutional nonsense...there is little good that can come from this exercise and a whole lot of harm." Another 1982 excerpt from Forbes' magazine: "...this obsession with deficits has led the (Reagan) Administration to back a...Prohibition-like constitutional Amendment."

A 1992 Forbes magazine excerpt reads: "The deficit is not the biggest burden Washington imposes...we don't really need a balanced budget amendment." Last September, in a speech to a Republican policy group, Forbes said: "You shouldn't sacrifice people's opportunity on the bogus theory of a balanced budget."

However, on the campaign trail, Forbes changed. On Jan. 18, 1995, Forbes told the New Hampshire legislature: "I support a balanced budget amendment that includes a tax cut." Forbes says if he is elected, he will introduce an amendment that prohibits tax increases, but he still opposes the amendment that is before Congress.

So Dole's ad was true and fully documented. And Forbes' claim of distortion? That was misleading, considering his own record. What Forbes has preached for years is that it's more important to cut taxes than balance the budget. But you could get a different impression from watching Forbes' ad.

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