Gore, Kemp Argue Tax Policy, Aid To Inner Cities

By Craig Staats/AllPolitics

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Oct. 9) -- In a respectful clash of ideas, Al Gore and Jack Kemp argued over tax policy, the economy's health and help for America's inner cities in the campaign's only vice presidential debate.

Vice President Gore proved the aggressor, trying repeatedly to drive a wedge between Kemp and GOP nominee Bob Dole on issues where Gore said they had disagreed in the past, including tax increases and affirmative action.(288K WAV sound)

But like Sunday's face-off between Dole and President Bill Clinton, the televised 90-minute encounter was civil and free from any harsh personal exchanges.

Gore repeated many of the statistics that Clinton cited in Sunday's debate, including 10.5 million new jobs, a 60-percent reduction in the deficit and low unemployment.

But Kemp said a 2.5 percent annual growth rate isn't enough to create jobs and wealth for the have-nots in American society. "Frankly, that's just not good enough for this country," Kemp said.

In-depth look at VP debate poll

The two men clashed repeatedly over the contrasting Republican and Democratic tax plans -- Dole's proposal for a $550-billion tax cut versus Clinton's smaller package of targeted tax cuts for education, parenting and on the profits from sales of homes.

Kemp said the Clinton Administration's plan would give Americans tax cuts only if they do exactly what the government wants them to do.

"That isn't America," he said. "That's social engineering."

When he was growing up in Los Angeles, Kemp said, one breadwinner per family was enough. "If a woman wants to go to work, or a man wants to go to work, it ought to be their choice, not the choice of the Washington, D.C., establishment," he said. (256K WAV sound)

But Gore hit hard at Kemp's opposition, before Dole selected him as his running mate, to a portion of Dole's tax plan which Gore said would actually raise taxes for nine million working families.

Gore said Kemp had called that part of the plan "unconscionable."

"That means it's wrong and it shouldn't happen," said Gore, who at times came across like a school teacher lecturing to a remedial class.

Gore said the Republican tax-cutting plan is too risky and would mean a higher deficit, higher interest rates and deeper-than-necessary cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and environmental protection. He repeatedly referred to it as a "scheme," again echoing the president. (256K WAV sound)

"We stopped that before," Gore said. "We will stop it again."

In one of the liveliest exchanges of the evening, Kemp talked about the power of tax cuts to expand the economy. "He'll call that trickle-down," Kemp said. "I call it Niagara Falls."

Gore shot back, "The problem with this version of Niagara Falls is that Senator Dole and Mr. Kemp would put the American economy in a barrel and send it over the falls."

The two men disagreed, too, on affirmative action. Gore said the administration's policy is "mend it, don't end it" and the nation needs to promote diversity and harmony among all its people.

Gore praised Kemp as "a lonely voice" in the Republican Party on the need to promote diversity and inclusiveness. But he quickly added: "It is with some sadness that I refer to the fact that the day after he joined Senator Dole's ticket, he announced that he was changing his position, and was thereafter going to adopt Senator Dole's position to end all affirmative action. That's not good for our country." (352K WAV sound)

Kemp protested that his position on affirmative action has been clear since the 1970s, and that he favors equality of opportunity, not equality of reward. "Quotas have always been against the American ideal," he said.

Kemp called for "a new civil rights agenda," based on expanding access to credit and capital, job opportunities, educational choice for families and ownership options. (512K WAV sound)

"When people own something, they have a stake in the American dream," said Kemp. "That is affirmative action in America."

But Gore hit back, noting that Kemp had opposed an anti-affirmative action measure on the California ballot, then switched positions after he became Dole's running mate. "And I hope that Mr. Kemp will try to persuade Senator Dole to adopt Mr. Kemp's position, instead of the other way around," Gore said.

Gore said he didn't mind anything Kemp said about him, noting: "He (Kemp) said much worse about Bob Dole when he said Bob Dole never met a tax that he didn't hike."

The men struggled with some of the toughest issues in American life, including expanding opportunity for people in the inner cities and President Clinton's veto of a measure banning late-term third-trimester abortions.

Gore, asked about an inner-city policy in a second Clinton Administration, said the goal is to create another million jobs and continue the empowerment zone/enterprise community program underway now. It offers tax breaks to businesses that locate in depressed communities and hire people who live there.

"We want the focus to be on millions more jobs," Gore said.

But Kemp said the administration's policy is too limited and the government ought to "green-line" all communities that have been red-lined and denied access to capital.

Gore said there are 105 empowerment zones and enterprise communities. "That's 105 more than there were when we came into the White House," he said.

Kemp said the problem with the U.S. economy is that affluent are doing well, but too many people are being left behind.

"It's a giant, in my opinion, zero-sum game, kind of like musical chairs when we were young boys and girls growing up and it seemed like when the music stopped, the big guy elbowed out the little guy from that last chair," Kemp said.

"That's not America, folks. We need more chairs. We need a bigger table. We need a greater banquet. We need to create more wealth. We need to create more jobs and more access to credit and capital and educational choice, and opportunity for any man or woman and child to be what God meant them to be, not what Washington, D.C., wants them to be."

On abortion, Kemp said he recognizes there is no consensus and a constitutional amendment would not pass. "This country should not be torn asunder over this debate," said Kemp.

But Kemp also said the Clinton Administration missed a chance to do the right thing when the president vetoed the late-term abortion measure. (512K WAV sound)

Gore, in response, said the president would have signed the measure if there had been an exception in the bill for protecting women who face serious health consequences, including the inability to have children in the future.

"We will never allow a woman's right to choose to be taken away," Gore declared. (96K WAV sound)

Asked whether Clinton has kept his promises, Gore said he not only has, but exceeded them. "He promised to cut the budget deficit in half. He has cut it by 60 percent. He promised to end welfare as we know it. He passed and signed the welfare reform law."

Normally, voters cast their ballots based on who heads the ticket, not the No. 2 candidates. But many analysts already are looking ahead to a Gore-Kemp race in 2000, so there was more interest in the debate than there might normally have been.

The final debate this fall will be between Dole and Clinton on Oct. 16 in San Diego.

Gore, Kemp Ready To Go -- Oct. 9, 1996

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Gore, Kemp Argue Tax Policy, Aid To Inner Cities

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