GOP Panelist Says He Ignores Bush Tax View
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KENNEBUNKPORT, Me. — With Vice President George Bush looking on, a Republican member of a bipartisan deficit-reduction commission said today that the panel will not be swayed from doing its job by Bush’s declaration that he would oppose any tax increase.
Rep. Bill Frenzel (R-Minn.) said he thought such comments were premature.
Frenzel, who is here at Bush’s vacation retreat for the second of two days of talks on economic issues, told reporters, “We are not going to get involved in any presidential campaigns.”
Bush, the all-but-certain Republican presidential nominee, said Tuesday that he would ignore what he said is a likely recommendation from the National Economic Commission for a tax increase to reduce the budget deficit.
‘I Took an Oath’
During a picture-taking session today on the porch of the vice president’s seaside home, Frenzel was asked whether he felt that Bush’s remarks will inhibit his own work on the commission.
“I took an oath to work on the commission and to do it well,” Frenzel said.
At that point, Bush interrupted, saying: “I hope the commission will listen a little bit to the American people in this election. I think that’s what an election is all about. The commission can take an objective look at (taxes) and do whatever it wants. But I’d be more persuaded by what Americans say.”
Former Deputy Treasury Secretary Richard G. Darman, one of half a dozen private economists here for the talks, said taxes are “off the table and nobody has raised it yet.”
One day earlier, Bush, who touts himself as a would-be “education President,” said local taxes may have to go up if his call for better schools is heeded.
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