ASHCROFT PROMOTES TAX-RELIEF MEASURE

John Ashcroft received a quick promotion Tuesday.

The U.S. senator spent a few hours working alongside Schnucks employees at Schnucks Food & Drug on South Kingshighway stocking produce shelves and assisting customers who were doing their Independence Day holiday shopping.

Ashcroft, R-Missouri, went from an orange apron to a green one in a hurry.

The orange apron signifies counter workers, while the green apron designates produce workers. Ashcroft had already donned the orange apron when someone suggested that he work in produce.

He switched to the green apron. As Ashcroft placed peaches and tangerines on the shelves, he discussed one of his priority programs, a payroll tax deduction that would allow workers to keep more of their wages while providing tax relief for middle-income America.

Ashcroft is no novice at performing odd jobs.

As Missouri governor and during his campaign for the Senate, Ashcroft often participated in chores on manufacturing assembly lines, retail stores, other businesses and farms.

"Spending time with Missourians in their jobs is a key way for me to keep in touch with people, to gather ideas and see effects of government decision on jobs and the economy," said Ashcroft, who owns a small farm north of Springfield.

Ashcroft is co-sponsoring a bill, the Working Americans Wage Restoration Act, which would allow workers to deduct in full their share of Social Security taxes from their gross income.

Co-sponsors of the bill, which was introduced in May, include Sens. Trent Lott, Larry Craig, Connie Mack, Orrin Hatch, Robert Smith, Richard Shelby and Mike DeWine.

Employers can deduct the 6.2 percent they contribute to Social Security, said Ashcroft, while employees can't deduct their 6.2 percent.

"We need to give these workers a chance to keep more of what they own and stop taxing them on money already taken out of their paychecks," said Ashcroft.

For the average two-earner family, the bill would let them keep $1,770 more a year, said Ashcroft. For the economy, this would mean real growth of an estimated .5 percent in GDP and could create up to 500,000 new jobs.

Ashcroft is describing his tax-relief message during a whirlwind tour of Missouri. He was in Joplin Tuesday morning, where he pitched in at the Eagle Pitcher manufacturing facility. Following the visit to Schnucks, he headed for Springfield, where he was to do some farm chores.

At each stop, he hammered out his message that workers deserved the same Social Security tax break as employers, eliminating a "double-tax" situation.