Subject: Democrats Establish A Gingrich Reaction Hotline

On Friday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) will unveil a hotline for taxpayers to call, so they can express their opinions on the possibility that House Speaker Newt Gingrich's might take a tax deduction for his ethics penalty. Each call will cost 99 cents.

Last week Gingrich announced that he will pay the $300,000 ethics penalty by accepting a loan from former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole.

Gingrich spokeswoman Christina Martin, when asked about the tax deduction proposal, said, "That is something that has not been addressed. We have not made a decision on that," although she did not deny it as a future option.

Democrats have expressed outrage over the proposed tax deduction. In a Capitol hallway, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said "there's no way" that Gingrich will be permitted to take the deduction.

In a paper statement, Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas), chairman of the Democratic committee, said, "Newt Gingrich hired a pollster to test his remarks before he delivered them to Congress, so its only appropriate to get direct public input into Gingrich's latest scheme to use the $300,000 fine he's paying to Congress as a tax deduction."

Frost said the DCCC is setting up the hotline because "if Newt really wants to know how working families across this country feel about his efforts to give himself a tax break while paying ethics fine with a loan from Bob Dole -- a loan that coincides with the exact amount of Dole's signing bonus with a Washington, D.C., lobbying-law firm -- they should call 1-900-454-2902 and be counted."

Each call will cost 99 cents and will benefit the committee's efforts to support Democratic Congressional candidates.