Congressman may support tax cuts

DAILY MAIL POLITICAL EDITOR

RACINE - When congressional Republican leaders try to undoPresident Clinton's vetoes of their bills to phase out the federalestate tax and repeal the so-called marriage tax penalty, they'llprobably have the support of 2nd District Democrat Bob Wise. "Ivoted for them before," Wise said Monday when asked about the bills."I'll most likely vote to override the president."

It takes the votes of two-thirds of members in both houses ofCongress to override a presidential veto. An override of one or bothtax measures would hand congressional Republicans a significantpolitical victory over Democrats in the home stretch of this year'selection campaigns.

"It's not about victories," said Wise, who is giving up his seatin Congress to run for governor. "It's about doing what you think isright."

The House of Representatives is set to go back into sessionWednesday, and a vote on overriding Clinton's veto of the estate taxlegislation is one of the first matters that members will address.The House's Republican leadership has scheduled a vote for eitherThursday or Friday.

Wise was one of 65 House Democrats in June who voted for theRepublican bill to phase out the federal tax on estates; 135Democrats opposed the measure. It reportedly would cost $105 billionover the next 10 years, and $50 billion a year thereafter.

In July, Wise and just 50 other House Democrats voted for aRepublican bill to repeal the marriage penalty - the quirk in thetax code that makes 25 million married couples pay more in taxesthan they would if single and filing separately. The bill, acompromise between separate GOP versions from the House and Senate,would cost $282 billion over 10 years.

President Clinton vetoed both bills, arguing they would depletetoo much of the projected federal budget surplus and leave no moneyto pay for protecting Medicare and meeting other needs.

Wise, campaigning Monday at the annual United Mine Workers LaborDay rally, said he believes the surplus would be sufficient to allowthe tax cuts without threatening Medicare.

A spokesman for Wise's Republican opponent, Gov. Cecil Underwood,questioned Wise's statement that he would "likely" vote to override.

"It sounds like his heart isn't really in it if he has to wonderabout giving tax relief to West Virginia families," Rod Blackstonesaid. "I thought an election year convinced him he needed to."

Blackstone and other Underwood supporters have accused Wise ofsupporting tax cuts only as a campaign ploy. The 2nd DistrictDemocrat has opposed tax cuts in the past.

But Wise said Monday that his earlier opposition came before thefederal budget was balanced.

Writer Paul Owens can be reached at 348-1701 or by e-mail atpowens@dailymail.com.