BOND PROPOSES $228 BILLION IN CUTS; CHIDES CLINTON FOR UPPING TAXES, SPENDING

U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond has accepted President Bill Clinton's challenge and this week proposed $228 billion in government cuts that could be made before any tax increases.

In a telephone news conference Thursday, Bond, R-Missouri, announced the proposed cuts and challenged Clinton to balance the budget by trimming government spending.

He said Clinton's proposed tax hikes will only result in more spending and will do little to put a dent in the $300 billion budget shortfall.

"Right now we have a package that's tax increases and spending increases, and that doesn't bring the deficit down," Bond said. "Before President Clinton asks middle-class working families to pay new taxes, we need to make sure that the government needs every nickel and dime that he wants it to spend.

"I believe simply that we should limit government and stop spending money before we ask people to sacrifice and pay more taxes."

Clinton proposed his tax plan Feb. 17 and called on members of Congress to propose additional cuts in spending.

Bond proposed to make the $228 billion in cuts over the next five years through the elimination of 15 government programs, a freeze in domestic discretionary spending, entitlement reform and cuts in other government programs.

Some of the programs targeted by Bond include the superconducting supercollider program, the mission to Mars, and "Green Lights," a program that doles out funds to "Fortune 500 companies" to develop energy-saving methods of operation.

The Missouri senator said spending cuts are "even more necessary" with the release Wednesday of an analysis of Clinton's tax plan by the independent Congressional Budget Office.

"They say it actually cuts $107 billion less from the deficit than the administration claims," Bond said.

Also, the CBO said Clinton's proposed spending increases exceed by $42 billion limits written into law as part of the 1990 budget agreement.

Bond said deficit reduction must begin with widespread spending cuts, particularly given Congress' track record of $1.59 in new spending for every $1 in tax hikes.

"We've got to maintain government programs that are worthwhile, but we've got to get the size of government under control before it becomes the monster that eats our economy," he said. "We can't reduce the deficit when you've got a 59-cent gap.

"I want to change the focus to cutting spending making government lean before we ask for taxes."

In Bond's proposal, $14 billion would be cut over five years by eliminating 15 "wasteful" government programs. Another $65.2 billion would be saved through reforms in federal entitlement programs.

He would require that health care reimbursements for congressmen and federal bureaucrats be the same as health payments for senior citizens under Medicare. Bond also would require that the same restrictive accounting standards imposed on business retirement plans be imposed on government retirement plans.

The proposals would make additional reforms in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Bond also would freeze domestic discretionary spending for five years and eliminate 80 percent of Clinton's proposed investment package, saving $124 billion. Bond's other spending cuts would save $18 billion, including reductions in funding for Congress, the White House, Arts and Humanities, State Department and International Organizations.

Bond admitted the cuts likely will affect Missourians as well as other Americans, but he said the overall benefit from reducing the deficit justifies the sacrifice.

"We need to get the deficit under control before it eats us alive," he said. "This $228 billion I put on the table today is my initial effort to say, `here are some good places to start.'

"The real concern is Congress is spending $300 billion more a year than it's taking in. To cut that down gradually over five years would be good for the economy and would strengthen the... private sector, which produces the jobs and revenue for government."

Bond said some conservatives in Congress likely will suggest tax cuts to help stimulate the economy. The senator said he favors an expansion of Individual Retirement Accounts, investment tax credits for businesses, and a reduction in the capital gains tax rate.

Bond said he feared Clinton's tax increases particular his energy tax would stall a recovering economy. He said it's been purported that the energy tax will cost the United States more than one million jobs.

"We're coming out of a recession, while the rest of world is in a deeper recession. The American economy is strongest in the world right now," he said.

"If the tax package goes through, particularly the energy tax a tax on jobs it's going to hit a lot of people. That, I think is a very deadly tax."