Clinton tax plan dwarfs McCain's proposal

WASHINGTON-  In his State of the Union address President Clinton unveiled a tax cut proposal of $175 billion over five years. This proposal, after offsets, dwarfs the tax cut plan offered by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which reduces taxes by $237 billion, also over five years.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, issued the following statement regarding Sen. McCain's and President Clinton's tax plans:

"It is astonishing that President Clinton has proposed a larger tax reduction package than Sen. McCain. President Clinton is the man who implemented the largest tax increase in American history. Now, Clinton is pushing for larger tax increases than Sen. McCain. This begs the question, just how conservative is John McCain?

"The $237 billion tax cut offered by the McCain plan, after offsets, equates to $86 billion. The $175 billion Clinton tax cut plan equates to $125 billion after offsets.

"Thankfully there are other candidates who believe a large portion of the non-Social Security surplus should be given back to the hardworking American taxpayers, namely George W. Bush and Steve Forbes. Bush has served up an almost $500 billion tax cut and Steve Forbes a $650 billion tax cut. These are real tax reductions that will be realized by the average American worker.

"As I have said before, when talking about tax cuts, size does matter, and unfortunately, Sen. McCain's proposal, when compared with the Clinton proposal is small. But when compared to the Bush and Forbes plans, McCain's is simply tiny."