Senate Campaigns Move to Taxes

By Chelyen Davis
Free Lance-Star

RICHMOND--Tax philosophy is emerging as the latest issue in Virginia's U.S. Senate race.

Sen. George Allen, who last week began a push to focus the campaign on issues, rather than character, is running ads depicting challenger Jim Webb as an advocate of tax increases--a theme he began in Monday night's debate.

Webb, in turn, is running a rebuttal ad saying Allen is lying, and that Allen is the one who voted to raise taxes.

"My opponent refuses to sign a pledge not to raise taxes," Allen said yesterday during a press conference in which he was endorsed by several small-business and anti-tax groups. "It means he's going to allow tax increases on Virginians, on small businesses."

Allen is basing his version of Webb's position on the company Webb keeps--he's received money from Democrats like Sen. Hillary Clinton--as well as statements Webb has made about wanting to study federal tax cuts made during President George Bush's first term, which are up for renewal.

"I stand with John Warner as a partner and my opponent stands with Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry," Allen said. "If my opponent and his national liberal Democrats have their way, all these tax cuts will expire."

Webb has said in the past that he wants to study that package of tax cuts--which include tax breaks for parents, married couples and businesses--but was not specific about which tax cuts he think should be rolled back.

"What they have done in those ads is taken a statement or statements I made in a general way, saying the extensions of the Bush tax cut should be looked at, and applied them to every single tax," Webb told reporters on Tuesday, speaking after the Virginia Education Association endorsed him.

Webb said he opposes tax increases that would affect most Americans.

"I do not favor any tax increases for tax breaks that have gone to average Americans," Webb said. "We do need more revenues. Everyone says we don't want to raise taxes but we do need more revenues."

Webb has said he favors getting those revenues by closing loopholes--loopholes he said Allen has supported--that allow corporations to pay little in taxes. He says he supports extending the tuition tax credit, as well as ending the estate tax.

For example, Webb cited the "runaway plant loophole" in which companies can close an American plant, open one overseas, and as long as they keep those profits overseas they never have to pay taxes on the plant here.

Allen's ad accuses Webb of positions that would cost Virginians $2,000 more in taxes per year, including wanting to keep the tax on estates and wanting to revive the "marriage penalty" in the income tax.

Webb's response ad says that Allen voted to raise taxes on retirement and college tuition while giving tax cuts to oil companies.

The tax issue is a new twist in this campaign, which for weeks has been sidelined by accusations that Allen used racial slurs against African-Americans in college and against an Indian-American Webb staffer in August.

Now Allen is looking to put that behind him, and focusing on taxes is part of that.