McCain, Bush dominate debate with tax talk

By David Jackson and Wayne Slater / The Dallas Morning News<br><br>DURHAM, N.H. - George W. Bush and John McCain highlighted their differences over taxes and campaign fund raising during a debate Thursday,

Friday, January 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

By David Jackson and Wayne Slater / The Dallas Morning News

DURHAM, N.H. - George W. Bush and John McCain highlighted their differences over taxes and campaign fund raising during a debate Thursday, less than a month before New Hampshire's tightly contested GOP presidential primary.

In his strongest anti-tax statement to date, Mr. Bush echoed the "no new taxes" pledge his father had made as president. The Texas governor promised not only to cut taxes but also not to raise them except in the "extremest of extreme hypotheticals," such as war.

"This is not only 'no new taxes,' this is a tax cut, so help me God," Mr. Bush said in touting his five-year, $483 billion plan.

A similar "read my lips" pledge in 1988 crippled his father's re-election bid for the presidency four years later because he had broken it as part of a budget deal.

Meanwhile, Mr. McCain, whose support of campaign finance reform has helped make him Mr. Bush's toughest opponent, had to defend himself against charges that he did special favors for a contributor seeking a television license.

Mr. McCain denied wrongdoing but said the incident points to the need to ban the unlimited "soft money" contributions that he said have tainted too many lawmakers.

"No matter what we do, we are under a cloud of suspicion," Mr. McCain said during the hourlong debate at the University of New Hampshire.

Mr. Bush said he did not question Mr. McCain's ethics, but he said the Arizona senator's campaign finance plan would hurt Republicans while leaving union support for Democrats untouched.

"What Al Gore is applauding is the campaign funding reforms that John supports," said Mr. Bush, who has seen a once-formidable lead over Mr. McCain shrink to nothing in New Hampshire. "And it's bad for Republicans; it is bad for the conservative cause."

The two front-runners in the Feb. 1 primary also argued about the size of Mr. Bush's proposed tax cut.

Mr. McCain said the plan favors the rich and threatens Social Security and Medicare benefits that depend on future budget surpluses.

"Don't put it all in tax cuts," Mr. McCain told Mr. Bush. "Don't give the real rich tax cuts."

Mr. Bush replied that his plan is fair in that it would provide tax cuts to all Americans and that it was designed, in part, to restrain "big government."

"There is a mind-set in Washington that says if we have extra money, let's create government, more federal government," Mr. Bush said.

Leaders challenged

The four other GOP contenders - Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, Alan Keyes and Orrin Hatch - continued to challenge the conservative credentials of Mr. Bush, whose fund-raising advantage continues to make him a favorite for the GOP nomination.

They also seemed to resent the attention paid to the two front-runners.

"Would you guys like to go out for dinner?" Mr. Bauer asked his fellow underdogs at one point.

During the program moderated by Tim Russert of NBC's Meet The Press, all the GOP candidates opposed the idea of letting gays serve openly in the military and criticized Democratic support for the idea.

Mr. Bush said sexual orientation would not enter into administrative appointments.

"How would I know?" Mr. Bush said. "I don't ask. Somebody's sexual orientation is their personal business as far as I'm concerned."

Pressed about openly gay applicants, Mr. Bush said: "It depends upon what their politics are. . . . It depends on what their views are."

Mr. Bush also touted his experience as governor, calling it superior to the legislative experience one gets in Congress.

"I'm the one person up here who has been elected to an executive position," Mr. Bush said.

One member of Congress, Mr. McCain, disagreed. The former prisoner of war in Vietnam touted his background in the Navy.

"George, I have executive experience: I was trained as an officer of the largest squadron in the United States Navy," Mr. McCain said. "It was great experience."

In an appearance earlier in the day, Mr. McCain rejected reports that he intervened improperly with the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of a donor seeking a television license.

He said he did not ask the FCC to approve or disapprove the donor's bid, only to act one way or the other on an application that had been pending for more than two years.

"I wasn't trying to do a favor for him,' " said Mr. McCain, who, as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, conducts oversight hearings with the FCC. "I was trying to see that the bureaucracy did its job, which is under my oversight."

'Walk the walk'

Mr. Bush said he could not comment on the specifics of the case but chided his rival.

"I think anybody who makes campaign fund raising and campaign reform and lobby reform an issue must walk the walk," he said.

Mr. McCain said he understands the criticism and called it another reason to change the system.

"All of us are tarnished by this system, where there is so much money washing around that whatever we do is under suspicion," he said.

Mr. McCain has called for banning soft money, the unlimited and little-regulated sums that individuals and corporations give to the Republican and Democratic parties.

Mr. Bush said the McCain approach would hurt Republicans unless coupled with restrictions on how labor unions spend members' money to benefit Democrats.

"He's asking us to unilaterally disarm, which I will refuse to do," Mr. Bush said during the evening debate.

Mr. McCain replied that abuses during the 1996 campaign point to the need for reform.

"We'll hurt the unions bad if we take away their soft money," he told Mr. Bush.

Mr. Forbes called both the Bush and McCain tax plans flawed, again advocating a flat tax. The magazine publisher also condemned the Clinton administration's decision to send 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba, referring to it as "Bill Clinton's human sacrifice to Fidel Castro."

Mr. Bauer, who founded the Family Research Council, pledged to nominate Supreme Court justices who oppose abortion rights and chided Mr. Bush for declining to do likewise.

Mr. Bush, who in an earlier GOP debate had cited Jesus as the most influential political thinker in his life, was asked Thursday about the role religion would play in his presidency.

"I would take an expression into the Oval Office: 'Dear God, help me.' "

"So would we, governor," Mr. Bauer interjected, prompting Mr. Bush to reply, "That wasn't very Christian of you."

Mr. Hatch, a senator from Utah, attributed his poor showing in the polls to his late start but cited other surveys showing that many voters have not yet decided on a candidate.

Mr. Keyes attacked Mr. McCain for lauding the rock group Nine Inch Nails, asking him why he would aid and abet "the cultural murder that is taking place in our young people."

After a pause, Mr. McCain replied, "Can I get a lifeline?" in a reference to the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

"Who do you want to call?," asked Mr. Russert.

"My 15-year-old daughter," Mr. McCain replied.

Mr. McCain referred to Nine Inch Nails as his favorite group after attending the MTV Music Awards. "I was trying to be amusing and entertaining, and it was a poor choice," he said.