Senate hopeful Nethercutt promises tax cuts

By Jim Brunner
Seattle Times staff reporter

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During a quick, four-city tour, Nethercutt held a series of news conferences to tout his tax-cutting philosophy. He released a policy paper outlining tax reductions he favors, including making the Bush administration's tax cuts permanent before they expire next year and pushing for a sales-tax deduction for Washington residents.

Nethercutt said he could think of no other issue on which he and Murray differ more sharply.

"I have fought for lower taxes. Senator Murray has voted for higher taxes, time after time," Nethercutt said during a press conference at Boeing Field, the last stop on the tour that also included Spokane, Kennewick and Vancouver, Wash.

Nethercutt said Murray has voted for higher taxes at least 282 times during her two terms in the Senate. He said he could not think of any occasion on which he had voted for higher taxes.

Murray's campaign disputed Nethercutt's figure and said the Democrat has voted for tax relief aimed at the middle class.

Alex Glass, a spokeswoman for the Murray campaign, cited unemployment figures and argued the Bush tax cuts have disproportionately favored the wealthy.

"This policy is hurting our state. It is hurting our nation. Why would anyone endorse that policy?" Glass said.

Nethercutt said he favors continuing to exempt Internet sales from taxation and providing a health-insurance tax credit for self-employed taxpayers.

He accused Murray of being responsible for the failure of Congress to pass a sales-tax deduction for Washington state, which would allow taxpayers to deduct from their federal taxes money they had paid in state sales tax.

The sales-tax deduction has passed in the House, but not the Senate. Nethercutt blamed that on "weak leadership" by Washington's two Democratic senators. Glass responded that Republicans control the Senate and therefore which bills come up for a vote.
 
Murray has supported some of the tax cuts Nethercutt favors — including the sales-tax deduction and Internet tax exemption.

In other instances, she has voted to spend money on items such as education and veterans' health care rather than cutting taxes, Glass said.

Illustrating the complexity of the thousands of votes taken by members of Congress on such subjects, the Murray campaign also quickly produced a short list of Democrat-sponsored tax cuts which Nethercutt has voted against.

That included a proposal sponsored by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., to extend a $1,000 child-tax credit, paid for by raising taxes on people earning $500,000 or more a year.

Nethercutt, R-Spokane, has represented Eastern Washington's 5th Congressional District since 1995. Murray, a Seattle Democrat, is seeking her third term in the Senate.

Close call

Nethercutt's plane had a near-collision with another aircraft while flying into the Vancouver, Wash., airport yesterday, his staff said.

The congressman and three aides were flying in a Cessna 441 when a smaller plane zoomed by and nearly hit them. The Cessna pilot swerved to avoid the oncoming aircraft.

Nethercutt's aides said the planes were close enough that they could see that the other aircraft's pilot had sandy blond hair and wore a black shirt.

"It was pretty scary," said Josh Holmes, a Nethercutt policy adviser on the trip.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com