Sen. Bob Dole, in a bow to a vanquished presidential rival, said Saturday he's looking "possibly" at proposing a single, flat income tax system similar to that championed by Steve Forbes.
In a Reagan-Lincoln Day luncheon here in northeast Wisconsin, Dole also sounded some of the same themes of his remaining major GOP opponent, Pat Buchanan, saying America should worry about competition from foreign trade, and mentioning the commentator by name in a complimentary way despite Buchanan's continuing attacks on Dole.But with his eye on the White House, Dole saved his attacks for President Clinton, calling him the biggest taxer "in the history of the world" and saying the president thinks he has a blank check on government spending.
"He wants more money, more money all the time," Dole said after noting Clinton has vetoed Congress' balanced budget plan and has yet to agree on a spending plan.
The president, Dole and other GOP leaders are hoping to meet next week to come up with a balanced budget plan for 1996 - even as Clinton is scheduled on Tuesday to release his spending program for 1997.
The Senate majority leader mocked Clinton for saying in his State of the Union address in January that "the era of big government is over." Dole said Clinton doesn't want to give up power to the states either, a key part of the Republican agenda in Congress.
As an example, Dole said Clinton, who as a candidate in 1992 promised to "end welfare as we know it," has vetoed two Republican proposals to reform welfare. Another GOP bill will hit his desk this spring to test his pledge, which, "somehow he forgot," Dole said.
Clinton's welfare promise will haunt him in 1996, just as former President Bush's no new taxes pledge cost him re-election in 1992, predicted Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, a leader in state welfare reform.
"Absolutely, this will bite Clinton back," Thompson said in an interview on Dole's campaign plane as it headed to Madison for a St. Patrick's Day party and rally. "This is his Achilles heel."
Clinton won Wisconsin in 1992, 42 percent to 37 percent for Bush and 19 percent for Ross Perot. Thompson predicted that a similar independent run in November would likely cost Dole the general election here, too. "This is a very independent-minded state," he said.