1995: 15% across-the-board tax cut to stimulate economy
In 1995, we helped Dole craft a supply-side economic message with input from some of the leading economic experts in the country, including Milton Friedman and Steve Forbes. The Dole proposal had as its centerpiece a 15% across-the-board tax cut for the
American people. He argued that by letting people keep more of their own money, they could better stimulate the economy than the federal government could. Still, with the country seeming to be at peace & reasonably prosperous, Dole lagged behind Clinton.
Source: Known and Unknown, by Donald Rumsfeld, p.269
, Feb 8, 2011
As Senate leader, became more conservative on taxes
In early 1993, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole told Clinton at the White House that the Republicans probably wouldn't give him any votes on his economic plan. Clinton would be raising taxes, and if the tax hike didn't work, Dole said forthrightly, that
would permit the Republicans to blame Clinton. Clinton appreciated at least the candor. Dole wasn't going to let him have a honeymoon. It was funny and sad, Clinton felt. He had viewed Dole as one Republican who had been willing to stand up to Reagan and
Bush on taxes and adopt what Clinton thought was a more balanced and realistic approach. Now, Clinton concluded, Dole had become one of them, securing his position as leader with the many conservative, anti-tax Republicans in the Senate. Part of
Dole's motivation might also have been his own political ambitions. Clinton realized he wasn't the only one who was operating as if the 1996 presidential campaign began the day he became president.
