Nashua Telegraph, Spetember 6, 1995 [title missing]

By KEVIN LANDRIGAN 
Telegraph Staff 

The campaign of Republican presidential candidate Richard Lugar and a
politically powerful interest group engaged in open warfare Tuesday over
Lugar's refusal to sign a simple pledge to oppose higher, federal income
taxes. Lugar stands out as the only major Republican candidate for
president in 1996 who has not satisfactorily signed the pledge advanced by
Americans for Tax Reform. The Washington, D.C.-based group has put this
challenge before candidates for federal office since 1986. 

The Indiana senator signed the pledge and returned it Aug. 1. But he then
added a clause that opened up the door to a tax increase if the nation's
security were threatened. 

Executive Director Grover Norquist said the group politely sent back the
pledge, noting that it accepts no provisos on the statements. "Senator
Lugar wrote that in case of an emergency the Congress could raise taxes. I
haven't known one time taxes went up that we weren't in the middle of an
alleged emergency so the pledge is meaningless on that basis," Norquist
said. 

That's when the fireworks started to fly. "Unlike some other candidates,
Dick Lugar does not take pledges lightly or something to do when it is
politically expedient," said Lugar campaign manager R. Mark Lubbers. 
"It's a sad commentary on our political system when only one candidate in
this field will tell a petty, inside-the-beltway puppeteer that the
president of the United States is not a marionette." Lugar press secretary
Mark Helmke noted that Lugar is calling for the elimination of the income
tax, which would be replaced by a national sales tax.  "Norquist and his
organization are behind the times. We aren't talking about fiddling around
at the edges of tax reform like he and the other candidates are. The
public doesn't want more incremental changes, Helmke said. 

The Lugar campaign went on to charge that the organization has a
self-interest in this debate because it is financed by corporations that
every year seek the preservation or creation of special income tax breaks.
Norquist said he can't understand why Lugar's campaign flew off the handle
after his statement Monday in The Washington Post identified Lugar as the
only candidate not to have signed an acceptable pledge. 

Last month, Norquist had made the same observation while appearing in
Manchester on behalf of California Gov. Pete Wilson, who has signed the
pledge for this campaign. "I really can't figure out why they would choose
to go after me and the organization over this. I've asked every candidate
to sign the pledge and volunteered to appear for any candidate to vouch
that he or she did to our satisfaction," Norquist said. The pledge became
critical in the last contested GOP presidential race back in 1988.
Then-Vice President George Bush took the pledge and hammered his chief
rival who did not, U.S. Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan.  When Dole formally
announced for president in Exeter last spring, Norquist was with him to
assure the media that Dole had signed the pledge this time. - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The
Telegraph The daily newspaper for Nashua and P.O. Box 1008 Southern New
Hampshire since 1832. Nashua, NH 03061 (603) 882-2741 Newsroom fax: (603)
882-2681
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