THE DOLE PLAN

	August 5, 1996
	Bob Dole tries to get his campaign moving with an economic prescription of tax cuts and accelerated growth. Is it a plan for the future--or for the eighties? Kwame Holman takes a look at the plan, with excerpts from Dole's Chicago unveiling.

KWAME HOLMAN: For Bob Dole, it was the most important speech thus far in the presidential campaign. SEN. BOB DOLE, Republican Presidential Candidate: It's great to be here. It's great to be able to give this speech before President Clinton gets a copy of it and--(laughter in room)--and tries to give himself. You know, he does that sometimes. (applause) KWAME HOLMAN: Dole mixed political jabs and policy specifics as he laid out the economic vision of a Dole presidency. SEN. BOB DOLE: We've all watched the Olympics, but we're like that Olympic runner with 50 pound weights attached to our legs. It's time to unshackle the U.S. economy from big government, from the big government ball and chain, and go for the gold. And we're going to go for the gold. (applause) And our history shows that the greatest force for economic growth, for lifting the poor from poverty, for opening opportunities for productive, fulfilling lives for all, is the force of a free people, free to go where God and their dreams guide them. That's what America's all about in the first place. (applause) And that is what built America into the most prosperous, generous nation on earth. And that's what my program is all about. That is why we're going to balance the budget, cut taxes, and remove the dead weight of government to unleash the full potential of the American people once again. KWAME HOLMAN: Specifically, Dole said he would institute a 15 percent across-the-board tax cut phased in over three years. SEN. BOB DOLE: It's going to return total taxes to where they were when Ronald Reagan left office. That's a big, big step in the right direction. KWAME HOLMAN: Dole would include a $500 per child tax credit for families. SEN. BOB DOLE: It means if you're raising one child, take back $500. If you're raising two, take back $1,000, raising three, take back $1500, and so on. I met a man who had 10. He's going to take back $5,000. KWAME HOLMAN: And Dole would reduce the capital gains tax rate from the current 28 percent to 14 percent. SEN. BOB DOLE: Because the capital gains tax hits smaller and growing businesses the hardest, and they're the ones who have created most of our new jobs in a decade and a half--in fact, they tell us in 25 years, three out of four jobs are going to be created by small business--and I want those businesses to use their growing value to give people better jobs and better opportunities and better incomes, not just to pay taxes, and that's why we're cutting it in half. KWAME HOLMAN: Dole also would expand eligibility for individual retirement accounts to include spouses of wage earners and repeal the 1993 tax increase on Social Security benefits. SEN. BOB DOLE: This is only the beginning. This is phase one, and we will not stop until we repeal the entire tax code and replace it with a simpler, fairer, flatter system that will allow Americans to file their tax returns without the help of a lawyer or an accountant or both. (applause) KWAME HOLMAN: Dole also said he would downsize and reform the Internal Revenue Service. SEN. BOB DOLE: And, in short, my administration will free the American people from tax tyranny. I will eliminate the IRS as we know it, and that's a big step in the right direction. KWAME HOLMAN: Bob Dole estimates his economic plan will cost the government $548 billion over six years, but he says through a growing economy, spending cuts and the new line item veto, as President, he'd still be able to balance the budget by the year 2002. SEN. BOB DOLE: As Winston Churchill said many years ago, 'Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.' I say today, that if we give America a new birth of freedom, there is no limit on what the American people can achieve. And I know in my heart our best days are yet to come. Thank you very much and God bless America. (applause)