Gephardt stresses deficit plan

[papau]

http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/22950326.htm

Gephardt stresses deficit plan
By THOMAS BEAUMONTRegister Staff Writer12/07/2003

Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt says as president he will be able to reduce the record federal budget deficit without cutting spending on entitlement programs. Instead, the Missouri congressman says he can turn the red ink to black through a combination of increasing taxes and pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into domestic programs aimed at sparking the economy.

..."I don't think you're going to accomplish this by just putting on the green eyeshade and starting to cut back on programs and raise taxes," ...deficit-cutting actions in Vermont showed a lack of compassion ...would force cuts in social services.

...his claim that he can reduce the deficit without cutting entitlements represents a change from his position as House majority leader in the early 1990s.Gephardt voted for cuts in Medicare spending of $69 billion in 1990 and $84 billion in 1993 as parts of deficit-reduction measures that passed in Democrat-controlled Congresses, according to figures provided by the Congressional Budget Office. Gephardt, who has attacked Dean for later supporting larger Republican-backed Medicare cuts, defended his 1990 and 1993 votes as cuts for doctor and hospital reimbursement, not benefits.

...Both Gephardt and Dean have proposed repealing the tax cuts enacted under President Bush. The effect, in part, would be a tax increase for all income brackets.But Gephardt would spend almost all of the revenue to increase access to health insurance. Dean would divide the money among health-care programs, fully funding special education and balancing the budget.Gephardt said big investments in health care, as well as energy development, would create millions of jobs, spark economic growth and fill government coffers. His health-care plan is estimated to cost $214 billion in its first year, increasing annually. "It will cause deficit reduction in and of itself. It's a much more dynamic - it's a much more synergistic - way to deal with the budget problems and the growth problems," he said. "If your goal is getting rid of deficits, you're never going to succeed if that's your single goal. If your goal is getting job creation and growth in the economy, then you're able to really get deficit reduction.<snip>

... Robert Reischauer, director of the Congressional Budget Office early in the Clinton administration...said the health-care and energy investments Gephardt proposes are unlikely to spark immediate wholesale economic growth."These are expenditures that could have some - in the case of health care - small impact on the size of the labor force, but it's not something that's going to, in the short run, show up as economic growth," Reischauer said