Robert Shaffer
GLENDALE -- James Rogan believes his old impeachment adversary has a
chance to leave his mark on America past his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
"The president has a unique opportunity," the Republican congressman
said by telephone from Washington, D.C. Friday, the day after President
Clinton gave his final State of the Union address. "He really does have a
chance to leave a positive legacy if he works with the majority in
Congress."
Clinton proposed a plan that would fully pay off the national debt in
2013, extend the life of Social Security and Medicare and provide tax
cuts, all while providing for new investments in education.
Rogan said he likes Clinton's plans to pay off the 150-year-old debt.
But what America needs, he said, is a bigger tax cut over new spending.
"We need to make sure there is a reasonable refund to working families
who earned it," he said of the federal surplus of tax revenue.
State Sen. Adam Schiff, who is challenging Rogan for his seat, said he
would also work to pay off the debt and save Social Security and
Medicare. Where he and Rogan differ, he said, is what to do with any
extra money.
Rogan supports a plan that would provide a $792-billion tax cut, which
the president vetoed last year. Schiff supports Clinton's more modest
$350 billion cut.
Congress and the president should invest money in education and making
health care more affordable for senior citizens, Schiff said.
"I'd rather have a responsible size tax cut than one that leaves our
seniors and children in the lurch," he said.
Rogan and Schiff agreed on one piece of tax reform -- an end to the
"marriage tax" -- the practice of making married couples pay a higher tax
rate than if they filed tax returns individually.
Schiff said he enjoyed Clinton's speech.
"He's an incredible speaker," he said.
Rogan didn't. He accused the president of being less than truthful
when Clinton blamed Republicans for killing gun control. Rogan said it
was actually rural Democrats who prevented it from passing.
"That sort of disingenuousness, that sort of performance before the
cameras doesn't serve the truth," he said. "I want him to roll up his
sleeves and work with us, and quit trying to demagogue these issues."
