Big tax cut
on agenda
for Clinton
WASHINGTON (AP) -
President Clinton proposed a $350
billion tax cut Thursday night as he
offered the final agenda of his
presidency.
The president offered a litany
of initiatives, many of them sure to
be rewritten or ignored by
Congress.
His tax cut proposals were
intended primarily to promote
educational opportunities and
expand health insurance and child
care for lower- and middle-income
Americans.
The initiatives included relief
from the “marriage penalty” - an
idea first championed by
Republicans - and a new program
of retirement savings accounts.
Clinton’s tax program includes
marriage penalty relief, tax deduc
tions of up to $2,800 annually per
family for college tuition and fees
and retirement savings accounts
for low- and moderate-income
families.
He also proposed steps to
encourage charitable giving.
The president’s tax package
joined a mix of proposals urged by
Republicans and Democrats as
both sides battle for control of
Congress and the White House.
Smarting from Clinton’s veto
of their $792 billion tax-cut pack
age last year, House Republicans
are drafting their own version of
educational tax breaks and mar
riage penalty relief this year.
Presidential candidates have their
own proposals, too.
Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas,
chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee, called Clinton’s tax
cuts too limited.
“We think all Americans
deserve tax relief, not just the
handful the president picks,”
Archer said.
The president’s tax package
would cost $350 billion over 10
years.
However, his plan envisions
cutting that price tag by $100 bil
lion by closing tax havens, shelters
and loopholes. Congress has pre
viously rejected many of those
ideas on grounds they are tax
increases.
There were no major foreign
policy announcements, although
Clinton urged Congress to give
Mark ^C^ilson/Ncwsmakcrs
PRESIDENT BILL Clinton delivers the State of the Union address Thursday. Clinton proposed more than
$350 billion in tax cuts, lowering the national debt, spending increases in education and increased
gun control laws.
China permanent normal trading
relations with the United States.
He also asked for $1.6 billion for
Colombia to fight narco-traffick
ers.
Clinton said the United States
must help Russia and China
become strong, prosperous demo
cratic nations.
“Both are behind, held back
from reaching their full potential -
Russia by the legacy of commu
nism, economic turmoil, a cruel
and self-defeating war in
Chechnya; China by the illusion
that it can buy stability at the
expense of freedom.”
Clinton also:
■ Called anew for Medicare to
include a prescription drug benefit
and to let people as young as 55
buy Medicare coverage - this time
with a 25 percent tax credit.
■ Called for doubling spend
ing for after-school and summer
school programs and to expand the
Head Start program for needy chil
dren to cover 950,000 children.
■ Offered tax breaks for col
lege, costing $30 billion over 10
years.
■ Expanded the earned
income tax credit for the working
poor by $21 billion and offered a
tax credit for long-term care cost
ing $27 billion.
■ Proposed a 10-year, $110
billion proposal to provide health
coverage to the parents of children
protected by the state Children’s
Health Insurance Program. If
approved, it would be the largest
increase in health coverage in 35
years.
Clinton
speech
criticized
UNION from page 1
all the answers, but that’s not the case,” Barrett
said.
Hagel said the government couldn’t fix every
problem in society by adding more federal pro
grams.
Kerrey said Clinton mentioned many positive
aspects of society in his speech.
“There’s plenty to feel good about: Crime,
welfare and unemployment are all down,” Kerrey
said.
Kerrey said Clinton was “very inspiring” in
key moments, but Hagel disagreed.
“His rhetoric does not match his actions of the
past seven years,” Hagel said.
Kerrey said he was grateful Clinton acknowl
edged problems facing family farmers because of
their great contributions to the economy, but
Hagel thought the president didn’t focus enough
on agriculture.
lie spent more time talking about Third
World relief than agriculture,” Hagel said.
Clinton also encouraged the addition of 3,000
charter schools, which are non-traditional public
schools that use different teaching methods.
Terry said this won’t affect Nebraska because
charter schools aren’t allowed in the state.
“This stood out to me because (Nebraska) isn’t
going to be able to help with this,” Terry said.
In other proposals, Clinton announced his sup
port of $ 1 billion in tax incentives for drug-makers
to develop vaccines for malaria, tuberculosis and
HIV/AIDS.
The president addressed the issue of education
and announced a proposal that would include tax
deductions of up to $2,800 annually per family for
college tuition and fees.
Clinton also announced his support of stricter
gun control laws, which would require handgun
purchasers to obtain a state license showing they
have passed a background check, as well as com
pleting a training course or exam.
Hagel said he was pleased Clinton mentioned
the enforcement of gun control laws but did not
like the president’s new proposals.
“He just wants to take guns away from peo
ple,” Hagel said.
The president slipped up in his speech by say
ing Vice President A1 Gore has helped make com
munities more liberal. He meant to say livable, and
the audience, Gore included, had a good laugh.
Some politicians thought Clinton’s speech was
a little long-winded.
His speech was his longest State of the Union
address: 89 minutes, besting his 1995 record of 81
minutes. By one count, he was interrupted by
applause 128 times, most of it from Democrats.
“It was just too long,” Barrett said.
Man attempts escape
by crawling under car
A Lincoln man tried to
escape from police by crawling
under a car on Wednesday.
Officers noticed a man walk
into and back out of J Ryans,
1434 N. 27th St. The man then
got into the back seat passenger
side of a vehicle, Lincoln Police
Ofc. Katherine Finnell said.
Police noticed the man drop a
plastic bag full of a white sub
stance by the seat onto the floor
board, Finnell said.
Finnell said officers strug
gled to get Henry Brinkley Jr.,
24, of 1924 N. 28th St., out of the
car.
When Brinkley did get out of
the car, he began to crawl under
it.
Police found the plastic bag
filled with white powder near the
driver-side tire.
Brinkley was arrested for
possession of a controlled sub
stance, resisting arrest and fail
ure to comply with an order.
Police arrest man on
concealed weapon charge
Police found a little surprise in a
Lincoln man’s pocket after a fight
Wednesday.
Titus Williams, 19, of 1001 S.
26th St. Apt. 4, was involved in a
fight at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at a
convenience store,Finnell said.
Officers arrived at Super C, at
21st and G streets, to break up a
fight.
Police said as officers were try
ing to handcuffWilliams, he tried to
reach into his right front pants
pocket.
With the handcuffs on
Williams, they found a loaded
Phoenix .25-caliber semi-automat
ic pistol in the pocket he had been
trying to reach into, Finnell said
Officers found the serial num
ber on the pistol had been scratched
off.
Williams was arrested for car
rying a concealed weapon and
defacing a firearm.
Compiled by staff writer
Michelle Starr
— LEGISLATURE —
Hearing bill sees heated debate
By Veronica Daehn
Staffivriter
It took Nancy Mitchell, of Omaha,
three years to convince doctors that her
son, Matthew, was deaf.
No one wanted to believe her, she told
the Health and Human Services
Committee on Thursday.
Nine years later, she said she’s still
angry at the doctors who ignored her
pleas.
Because her son endured the first
three years of his life without hearing, he
has spent the rest of his life trying to catch
up, she said.
LB950 was held in committee
Thursday after senators heard dozens of
mothers, doctors, insurance agents and
others testify for and against the bill that
would adopt the Infant Hearing Act
Under this act, all infants bom in
Nebraska would undergo a hearing test at
birth.
Experts said hearing loss is much less
detrimental if caught early on.
Mitchell said she would give anything
to have those formative years back for her
son.
“Even after nine years, I’m still angry
that no one would listen,” she said. “Please
listen today.”
John Roberts, vice president for the
Nebraska Association of Hospital and
Health Systems, said eight Nebraska hos
pitals do universal screening.
Those tests cover 32 percent of the
total births in Nebraska, he said.
By the end of this year, about 20 more
hospitals will be screening for hearing
loss.
Together, this accounts for 75 percent
of statewide births.
But Roberts said the testing program
should be available to all newborns in the
state.
The program, he said, needs the help
of the Department of Health and Human
Services.
Mary Moeller, director of the Center
for Childhood Deafness, said the first
years of a child’s life are the most crucial
in language, communication and educa
tional development.
“Hearing loss causes gaps or delays in
development,” she said “These delays are
preventable with early identification.”
Moeller said she helped with a study
on 112 deaf children at Boys Town
National Research Hospital.
The results showed that there was a
direct correlation between the age chil
dren were when hearing loss was discov
ered and the vocabulary they have at age
5.
“(Later identification) places a child
at a disadvantage that might never be
fixed,” Moeller said. “They are always
playing a catch-up game.”
Tom Fortune from Lincoln Public
Schools said it was not sufficient for just
some hospitals to do hearing screenings. It
needed to be done at all hospitals across
the state, he said.
The bill states that by Dec. 1,2003,
hearing tests would be conducted on no
fewer than 95 percent of newborn babies
in Nebraska.
The state will achieve a 100 percent
screening rate, the bill reads.
The hearing tests would be covered by
health insurance.
Several insurance agents said they
opposed that part of the bill.
“This is a prescription for chaos,” said
Tom Jenkins, a representative from Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska. “We want
to keep costs down for policyholders.”
The bill was introduced by Sen.
Dennis Byars of Beatrice.