6/21/96
PRESS RELEASE

STATEMENT BY ANN LEWIS
DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER

Here he goes again. Haley Barbour's latest comment that taxes are at an all time high is -- to put it politely -- incorrect.

Here are the facts:

The average federal income tax rate for the typical four-person family is lower today than when President Clinton took office, and is lower than in seven of the eight years when Ronald Reagan was President. The average federal personal income tax rate for the typical four-person family will be lower in 1995 than in 1992 and lower than in seven of the eight years under Ronald Reagan. [Treasury Department, Office of Tax Policy, 4/18/95]

President Clinton's Economic Plan cut taxes benefitting 40 million Americans. Because of the President's 1993 economic plan, 40 million Americans (15 million workers and their families) benefit from the expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit, the EITC. [Treasury Department, Office of Tax Policy, 4/1/96]

For lower-income families, average tax rates will be at an 18-year low. For a four-person family with an income one-half of the typical family's income, the average federal income tax rate will be lower in 1995 than when President Clinton took office. It will also be at its lowest level since 1977 -- largely because of the expansion of the EITC in President Clinton's 1993 Economic Plan. [Treasury Department, Office of Tax Policy, 4/18/95]

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