Gore to lay out blueprint for economy

Los Angeles Times

CLEVELAND - Vice President Al Gore plans to release a detailed economic agenda today that seeks to increase home ownership, boost family incomes, cut the pay gap between men and women, and reduce poverty levels to near historic lows.

Gore will unveil a 191-page budget blueprint that vows to eliminate the national debt by 2012 and to set aside $300 billion in a rainy-day fund in case the widely projected budget surpluses fall short, Gore senior campaign officials said.

The key to achieving those goals, Gore believes, is his debt reduction plan. He will argue that significant debt reduction will produce lower interest rates for consumers when they borrow money to buy a house or an automobile. President Clinton also has been making this argument for months at fundraisers and in a speech to the nation's governors earlier this year.

Gore's plan features his previously announced targeted tax cuts for middle-class families, various tax credits for expenses such as college tuitions and new retirement savings plans; an increase in the minimum wage; and stricter enforcement of anti-discrimination laws - as a way to reduce the pay-gap between men and women.

Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee, plans to lay out his sweeping agenda in a speech this morning at Cleveland State University. He also will promise to submit to Congress a balanced budget plan every year he is president.

Gore's emphasis on details - to a striking degree for a presidential candidate - is part of his strategy to pressure his Republican rival George W. Bush to also release the specifics of his agenda.

A Bush spokesman dismissed Gore's $300 billion surplus set-aside as "a political campaign gimmick."

AP PHOTO

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore greets supporters yesterday in Columbus, Ohio, where he plans to unveil a sweeping economic plan today.