October 13, 1992 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RECORD: -- Al Gore Isn't Telling the Truth About Clinton's Own Record, or About President Bush's -- ECONOMIC RECORD: Tonight Gore charged that the U.S. under Bush "has had the worst economic record since the Great Depression." FACT: The dubious honor of worst economic performance belongs to Jimmy Carter, not George Bush. Under Carter: -- Inflation reached 13.5% in 1980; interest rates climbed to 15.27% in 1980; new home mortgage rates approached 14%; and the unemployment rate stood at 7.8%. What Gore Isn't Telling the American people is: o Inflation: This year inflation is running below 3%. The last time the Democrats controlled the White House and Congress, it rose to 13.5%. o Interest Rates: This year interest rates are the lowest they have been in 20 years. The last time the Democrats controlled the White House and Congress, they soared to record levels. o Competitiveness: Under George Bush, the United States has become the number one exporter in the world -- beating out Japan and Germany. Exports are up 40% since 1988. In the last three years, our exports to Japan have risen twelve times faster than our imports from them. o Manufacturing: The U.S. share of manufacturing output is growing. American manufactured exports have risen by more than 35% since 1988. Our trade deficit in manufactured goods has been cut in half since 1988. o America Remains Number One: The United States has the highest per capita income in the world -- 25% higher than in Japan and 35% higher than in Germany. American workers are the most productive in the world. BANKRUPTCIES: "Bankruptcies have gone up." FACT: The vast majority of bankruptcies under President Bush were personal bankruptcies -- reflecting liberalizations in bankruptcy laws that occurred under President Carter. o Clinton would do well to pay attention to the rapid growth in business bankruptcies in Arkansas. In the last year, Arkansas has suffered a 44.3% increase in business failures -- the sixth worst state record in the nation and three times the national average. (Dun and Bradstreet Corporation as reported in Business Wire, 7/8/92.) Housing: "Housing starts down." FACT: Housing starts have risen from a low of 847 thousand units in January 1991 to 1,237 thousand units in August 1992 -- an increase of 46%. o Residential construction outlays have risen from a low of $164.1 billion (in 1987$) during the first quarter of 1991 to $191.2 billion during the second quarter of 1992 -- a 16.5% increase. o The single-best measure that would spur new housing construction is the President's $5,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers -- a measure Clinton refuses to endorse. The President's tax credit would -- within one year -- spur $12.5 billion in new residential construction and create 272,500 direct jobs. Tax Fairness Tonight Gore charged that under President's Reagan and Bush, the tax burden on the rich went down, while the tax burden on the middle class went up. FACT: The rich will pay a larger share of Federal taxes in 1992 than in 1980. The share of taxes paid by the top 1% of earners will increase by at least 22% for 1992. The top 5% will see their tax share go up by 16%. It is beyond dispute that the rich pay an increasingly large share of taxes. o Another way to measure the middle class income tax burden is to calculate the share of all Federal taxes paid by middle income families. In 1977, middle income families (the middle 60%) paid 42% of all Federal taxes. -- By 1988, middle income families were paying just under 40% of all Federal taxes. Under President Bush, middle income families pay about 39% of all Federal taxes. o Meanwhile, Al Gore has been an incessant proponent of higher taxes. In 1987, Gore opposed a Sense of the Senate Resolution that planned tax rate reductions should not be delayed. Just nine Democrats voted against this resolution. Even Kennedy and Metzenbaum joined Republicans in supporting this resolution. (5/6/87) o Then, Gore made good on his May 1987 vote for tax hikes by voting for the Democratic Budget Conference Report which would have raised taxes by $19.3 billion in FY 1988 and $64.3 billion over the next three years. (6/24/87) o Bill Clinton is not being straight with the American people about who he would have to tax. His tax plan would force him to raise taxes on the middle class. To cover phony revenue in his economic plan, and to meet his own tax revenue goal of $150 billion, Clinton will have to start his tax increase on individuals with taxable incomes of $36,600 a year. Health Care Tonight, Gore said that the President has not introduced his health care plan in Congress. Gore is wrong. o The President's medical malpractice reform bill was introduced on May 15, 1991. Congress never acted. o The President's Self-employed Individuals Act of 1992 was introduced on May 14, 1992. o The President's Health Market Insurance Reform Act was introduced in Congress on May 14, 1992. o The President's Medical Information, Administrative Cost Savings Act was introduced in Congress on June 23, 1992. Tonight, Gore said his health care plan would "phase-in coverage" and "control costs." What Gore won't tell taxpayers is: o His health care plan will ration health care by putting federal health care bureaucrats in charge of how much money Americans could spend on their health care and which treatments they would receive. o Clinton's plan would require a payroll tax -- a fact he has twice admitted, (once in an interview with the USA Today editorial board on August 12, 1992): -- Asked specifically if his health plan entailed a tax, Clinton responded: "There will be a buy-in tax which they [businesses] can call a payroll tax ..." (USA Today, 8/13/92) What Clinton won't tell the American people about the impact of this payroll tax is: o Up to 700,000 working Americans would lose their jobs in the near term as a result of Clinton's payroll tax burden. According to owners of small businesses, between one and two million small business jobs could be lost as a result of "play-or-pay" health care. Tonight Gore charged that a bipartisan panel concluded that the President's health care plan would not work. FACT: The study to which Clinton refers was commissioned by Families USA and performed by Lewin/ICF. The "bipartisanship" of the panel is disputable. The President of Lewin/ICF gave $1,000 to the Clinton campaign in December 1991. The media director of Families USA, Arnold Bennett, is a health care advisor to the Clinton campaign. Family Leave Tonight, Gore claimed that family leave should be required. FACT: Despite twelve years of Clinton, Arkansas has no family and medical leave act. o The President's contention that government family leave mandates contributes to unemployment is bolstered by the fact that more than half of the 72 countries Clinton cites had higher unemployment than the U.S. -- Many of America's leading competitors that have mandated leave -- including Germany, England, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Canada -- have higher unemployment than the U.S. Auto Industry Tonight, Gore claimed that 260,000 auto jobs have been lost during the 1980s. FACT: According to the Department of Labor, motor vehicle and equipment manufacturing employment increased from 789,000 in 1980 to 856,000 in 1988 -- an increase of 67,000 jobs. o A seasonally-adjusted month-by-month report from the Department of Labor shows that from January 1981 to July 1992, motor vehicles and equipment employment rose from 793,000 to 822,000, and increase of 29,000 jobs. Taxing Foreign Corporations Tonight, Gore claimed that the Bush Administration has "not been willing to enforce the [tax] laws" against foreign corporations. FACT: According to congressional testimony by IRS Commissioner Shirley D. Petersen on April 9, 1992, the IRS has significantly increased its enforcement of tax laws against foreign corporations, including increasing the number of international tax examiners by almost 100, from 490 to 582. Funding for Education Tonight, Gore claimed that this Administration has cut college aid. FACT: The President's FY 1993 budget proposes the largest one- year increase in Pell grants in history. His $6.6 billion request -- a 22% increase over FY 1992 and 48% over 1989 -- would increase maximum and average Pell grant awards substantially and support awards to 3.4 million students. As a proportion of overall awards, more funds would go to middle-income students. -- To increase access to Pell Grants for middle-income students, the President has proposed a cap on the amount of a family's home value that may be included in calculating a student's expected family contribution. -- The President would increase funds for guaranteed student loans by $2.1 billion -- a 60% increase over 1992 -- and allow the deduction of interest paid on or after July 1, 1992 on student loans for higher education. Tonight Gore also indicated that he and Clinton are opposed to full school choice. What Clinton won't tell you is that in 1990 he wrote Wisconsin State Representative Polly Williams who was then spearheading a private school choice initiative in Milwaukee. In that letter, Clinton called Williams' initiative "visionary." o I am fascinated by that proposal [giving parents the right to choose a private school and to receive financial assistance in the form of vouchers to send their children]. I'm concerned that the traditional Democratic Party establishment has not given you more encouragement. The visionary is seldom embraced by the status quo." (Clinton letter to Wisconsin State Rep. Polly Williams, 10/18/90) Child Immunizations Tonight, Gore claimed that the President had cut child immunizations. FACT: Since 1989, funding for childhood immunizations has more than doubled, from $141 million to $297 million in 1992. o The President's budget for FY93 will increase Federal support for Centers for Disease Control (CDC) childhood immunization activities by $52 million, an 18 percent increase over the 1992 enacted level. The President's budget would provide for: -- 6.7 million polio vaccinations -- 4.1 million measles-mumps-rubella vaccinations -- 2.6 million hepatitis b vaccinations Welfare "[Under Clinton] 17,000 people have moved from welfare to work." FACT: At the same time that Clinton says he was reducing Arkansas' welfare rolls by 17,000, the state's welfare rolls actually swelled by 35,000 people. (Department of Health and Human Services). o In fact, under Clinton, Arkansas' welfare rolls have increased: since Clinton's welfare "reform" program started, Arkansas' total welfare caseload has increased by 12 percent, (U.S. News and World Report, 4/20/92) -- And, despite Clinton's inference that his reforms have been a success, spending on the state's welfare bureaucracy has exploded: under Clinton, the administrative costs of Arkansas' welfare bureaucracy have ballooned by 3,000 percent, (State Budgets, 1983 and 1991) o Clinton has previously tried to inflate his success as a welfare reformer, going so far as to shade the truth. This past January, Clinton claimed that his state welfare reform program, had been evaluated independently as "as one of the three or four best programs in the United States . . ." In fact, the independent group to which Clinton referred has never audited his welfare reform program. (Speech to the National Rainbow Coalition, 1/25/92) o Looking at his record in Arkansas, U.S. News and World Report (4/20/92) concluded that Clinton's Arkansas welfare programs "aren't as great as he claims." Defense Spending Tonight, Gore said he would cut the defense budget by less than 5% more than the President over five years. What Gore won't tell the American people is: o Clinton will cut defense outlays by $58.5 billion more than the President over the next five years -- cuts that are more than three times the size of the President's. -- Clinton has called Reagan-Bush defense buildup "a lot of wasted money and unnecessary expenditures." (Washington Post, 10/17/91) o Clinton's overly-deep defense cuts will cost 1 million more jobs in the armed forces and in defence-related industries. o Clinton's defense cuts are deeper than those proposed by even the Democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Les Aspin. Thus, the armed forces under Clinton will be dramatically smaller than they are at present. The U.S. will have a dramatically-reduced ability to project force around the world using aircraft carriers. What Gore also won't tell the American about his own national security record is that: o He voted for a bill that would have decimated the national defense, slashing $92 billion from the defense budget over three years. Just 17 other Democrats voted for this bill. (5/9/85) o Gore voted three times to slash SDI on the same day with cuts ranging from $160 million to $1.1 billion. (6/4/85) Gore voted twice in 1986 to slash SDI funding, once by $700 million and again by $340 million. (8/5/86) Abortion o For a refutation of Gore's statements on abortion, see his own letter dated July 1, 1987 which has been distributed separately. In that letter, Gore said, "I have strongly opposed federal funding of abortions ... It is my deep personal conviction that abortion is wrong." o For comparable evidence of Bill Clinton's deceptions on this issue, see Clinton's letter dated September 26, 1986 letter to Earlene Windsor of Arkansas Right to Life. In that letter, Governor Clinton said, "I am opposed to abortion and to government funding of abortions. We should not spend state funds on abortions because so many people believe abortion is wrong." Legal Reform Gore tonight referred to medical malpractice rates in Arkansas. What Gore won't tell the American people is that: o Trial lawyers give rave reviews to Clinton's record of opposing tort reforms. As the former head of the American Trial Lawyers Association wrote to fellow lawyers (in soliciting contributions for Clinton): "I happen to know that Bill Clinton is against tort reform of any kind." (Letter by Robert Habush, quoted in Wall Street Journal, 4/10/92) Or consider the opinion of someone who knows, and appreciates, Clinton best, the President of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association: "I can never remember an occasion when he failed to do the right thing where we trial lawyers were concerned." (Letter by David H. Williams, 7/10/92) o Trial Lawyers are Clinton's Top Source of Contributions: Trial lawyers are working hard to raise money for Clinton, confident that under Clinton tort reforms like the President's will not be enacted. -- Writing to fellow lawyers on Clinton's behalf, the head of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association said, "So, can I recommend that your folks put their money behind Bill Clinton for President? Not just yes, but hell yes ... So dig down deep and give to Bill Clinton." (Letter by David H. Williams, 7/10/92)