Dean honing 'middle-class tax cut'
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Howard Dean, who has focused for months on his call to repeal all of President Bush's tax cuts, said yesterday that he "will propose additional tax reforms that will make the tax code fairer for working families." A top aide said Dean has not ruled out a "middle-class tax cut," but that the details have not been completed and the policy would not be announced until after primary voting has begun.
Rival campaigns seized on the statements by Dean and his aides as evidence that he is "flip-flopping" on his tax plans. They also said it is inconsistent with his relentless criticism of them for wanting to retain the middle-class elements of the Bush administration tax cuts. But Dean aides defended the evolving policy.
"The governor has always said that he is going to offer a tax plan that is fair and simple for working families. He's never ruled out a middle-class tax cut. The plan is not complete yet," Dean campaign spokesman Douglass Thornell said as Dean and his entourage flew back to Vermont from Iowa.
"There will come a time when he will tell you, not me," Gina Glantz, a senior adviser who travels with Dean, told reporters. As she spoke, the former Vermont governor sat 3 feet away, reading a newspaper.
"Certainly, it makes some sense to wait for the president's budget," she said, referring to a document that Bush is expected to submit Feb. 1. That is just after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, which will be held Jan. 19 and Jan. 27, respectively.
"He's going to have a strategy to balance the budget and provide tax fairness of the middle class," Glantz added.
The comments by the Dean campaign came in response to an article in yesterday's Globe in which Dean economic advisers were quoted as urging Dean to pair a tax-relief package with his repeal of the Bush tax cuts.
Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, who favors repealing the Bush tax cuts on those earning more than $200,000, said in a conference call that he wants to know if Dean "is prepared to admit he was wrong and flip-flopped."
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, in a telephone interview, said Dean had done "more flip-flops than Mary Lou Retton," referring to the Olympic gymnast. Lieberman said it is "unfair to the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire" for Dean to refuse to reveal his full tax plan. "The voters have a right to know," Lieberman said.
The Globe story quoted a Dean campaign official as saying that there was "unanimous" agreement among Dean's economic team that Dean should support a middle-class tax cut to offset the pain of his call for repealing the Bush tax cuts. Some advisers noted that if Dean becomes the Democratic nominee, he would be easily attacked by Republicans for supporting a $2,000 tax increase on a family earning $73,000. The article quoted one of Dean's advisers, Dean Baker, as saying that the call to repeal all of the Bush tax cuts "wasn't thought out carefully, not just for the politics, but for the policy."
In a statement the campaign issued last night, Dean said: "I have repeatedly called for the complete repeal of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts to pay for health care and make significant progress toward balancing the budget. As I have consistently said since November 2002, I will propose additional tax reforms that will make the tax code fairer for working families -- and that will ensure that corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share."
Glantz, the Dean adviser, refused to say how the former governor will square his plan for so-called "tax fairness" with his criticism that the country cannot afford the Bush tax cuts, and that his fellow Democrats are "Bush Lite" for favoring retaining the cuts that apply to middle-class families.
Dean initially told reporters, as he boarded his campaign plane, he would be "happy" to discuss the Globe story with them. Then he checked himself, saying, "Gina has veto power. I'm not allowed to say I'm `happy' to do anything anymore."
Michael Kranish reported from Washington; he can be reached at kranish@globe.com. Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. 