Republican leader disputes Clinton on tax cuts

By Major Garrett/CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert will fire one of the first volleys of the upcoming budget war Tuesday when he releases new data claiming that the GOP's tax cuts are only one-fourth as large as the White House claims.

"Your assertion that Republicans have passed nearly $2 trillion in tax relief for the next 10 years is wildly off the mark," Hastert says in a letter to be sent to President Clinton. "All of our tax cuts, when added up, amount to $531 billion over the next 10 years. This figure represents just 11 percent of the projected $4.56 trillion in surpluses over the next 10 years."

A senior White House official dismissed Hastert's contention, arguing that the administration's $2 trillion figure is derived from adding together all Republican-passed tax cuts in the 106th Congress -- not just those passed this year.

"The reality of it is they have not abandoned the tax cuts of last year," the official said. "They've already passed $1.8 trillion in tax cuts. Our criticism is fair. It's what this election is about. They are angry because we pulled back the screen. 'Wizard of Oz' arithmetic does not work."

Hastert will release Tuesday a new Joint Tax Committee analysis that places the 10-year cost of all GOP tax cuts in the pipeline this year at $531.5 billion.

Republicans have become increasingly sensitive to White House charges -- amplified by Vice President Gore -- that their tax cuts would deplete non-Social Security surpluses over the next 10 years. The new analysis is meant to allay voter fears about the fiscal consequences of the GOP tax cuts in the pipeline.

The White House also wants to focus attention on GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush's across-the-board tax cuts. The White House says those tax cuts would prove even more costly than those Congress has passed.

"Have they abandoned Bush's tax cuts?" the administration official asked. "That game plan would eat entirely into the surplus and doesn't account for reasonable growth of defense or domestic spending -- unless they want Gingrich-sized budget cuts."

The GOP also wants to raise doubts about the truthfulness of the Clinton-Gore tax attacks. In his letter to the president, Hastert expresses disappointment with what he says is Clinton's "lack of factual basis" for his criticisms.

The White House and Congress are spoiling for a budget fight this fall that could throw an unexpected variable into the presidential campaign. The first presidential debate is currently scheduled for Oct. 3, three days after Congress is by law required to finish all of its budget work.

If Congress can't finish, it will have to win White House approval of a stop-gap spending bill to keep the government operating. Few GOP leaders expect Congress to finish the budget work on time, meaning a showdown over temporary funding -- and the specter of a short-term government shutdown could explode days before the first debate.

A senior White House adviser said current plans are to grant emergency spending requests unless Congress falls well short of Mr. Clinton's budget requests. "We'll see what their numbers are and decide how to handle it," the official said.

Republicans want to avoid a shutdown scenario at all costs. In the same letter to Clinton on tax policy, Hastert pleas for a budgetary cease-fire when the fiscal year expires on Sept. 30.

"I hope we can work together to get our budget process completed in September," Hastert says. "Recent statements by Democratic congressional leaders that they will thwart compromise and pressure you to block enactment of any fiscal spending bills -- regardless of their merit -- as an election year ploy are very disappointing. Mr. President, let's get the people's work done and not play politics with the budget process."