Inventing Al Gore: on Budget & Economy

Deficit Hawk for balancing 1993 budget, but not ideological

Gore’s executive style as Vice President carried all the earmarks of his legislative career-keen intellect, fierce competitiveness, self-righteousness, and caution punctuated by bursts of boldness. Gore was “a new Age pragmatist,” as one aide put it, with no consistent ideological coloring, capable of landing on Clinton’s left or right depending on the issue. In the debate over the early economic program, he sided with the “deficit hawks” who favored deep reductions in red ink to win the confidence of the bond market. At the same time he pushed unsuccessfully to raise revenue with a controversial, broad-based energy tax favored by the environmental movement. In 1995 Gore pushed Clinton to offer a balanced budget of his own to compete with the plan presented by Newt Gingrich and the House Republicans. When other aides urged Clinton to close a deal with the GOP, Gore insisted that the administration hold out to protect Medicaid, Medicare, and other programs from severe cuts. Source: Inventing Al Gore, p.269

*The above quotations are from Inventing Al Gore, by Bill Turque.* Click here for definitions & background information on Budget & Economy. Click here for more quotes by Al Gore on Budget & Economy.
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