Bill Clinton: “First of all, we have a big plan to reduce the capital gains tax when people sell their homes. Part of my tax package…”

“First of all, we have a big plan to reduce the capital gains tax when people sell their homes. Part of my tax package, which is paid for in my balanced budget plan, would exempt up to half a million dollars in gains for people when they sell their home, which I think is the biggest capital gains benefit we could give to most ordinary Americans. We also have a capital gains now for people that invest in new small businesses and hold the investment for 5 years. It was part of our other economic plan. And these are things I think that will go a long way toward helping America build a stronger economy and a better tax system. I think the most important thing to emphasize, though, is that we also have to help people in other ways to build a stronger economy. And we can't have any tax cut that's not paid for. One of the big differences between Senator Dole and myself is that I told you how I'm going to pay for every penny of the tax cuts I recommend. We've worked hard to bring this deficit down, and that's helped people in the real estate business, because the interest rates are lower. We've got homeownership at a 15-year high. We've got this country going in the right direction. So we can have a tax cut, but my priority would be to help the families who need it with childrearing and education and buying a first- time home and helping for health care costs. So from your business, helping in buying the first-time home, exempting the capital gains on the sale of the home would be the most important things that you asked about. Thank you, Pamela. Mr. Lehrer. Senator Dole. Senator Dole. Well, Pamela, what the President didn't tell you is that all his tax cuts expire at the year 2000, but all his increases go on forever. That's the liberal approach. You know, give you a little tax cut, give you a couple of years, then make the tax increases go on forever. So the net tax increase in his plan is somewhere between $60 billion and $80 billion. We have in the Dole-Kemp economic plan, unless your home is worth over $500,000--and if it is, I appreciate it, congratulate you--but in any event, no tax. And it's a good idea. They saw it, and they picked it up and put in theirs, but it's only temporary. Ours is permanent. Ours is a good plan: create jobs and opportunities; capital gains rate, cut it in half, cut it from 28 percent to 14 percent. There are $7 trillion in assets locked up in America. If we cut the capital gains rate--I'm told every day--I got a letter from a former constituent in Kansas saying, ``I want to sell property in California, put it in my business in Kansas. I can't because the capital gains rate is too high.'' We need to get the economy going. That will help Social Security. That will create more jobs. That will help people who want to get off welfare. It's the American way.”