April 16, 1999
Web posted at: 12:18 p.m. EDT (1618 GMT)

Gov. Bush pays hefty tax after baseball team share

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 16) -- Texas Gov. George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, reported paying $3.77 million in taxes for 1998. On top of the $97,252 the Bushes had previously paid, the governor sent a check to the IRS Thursday for $3,675,000. "I never dreamt I'd write a check that big. Of course, I never dreamt I'd make that much money, either," the current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination said. The lion's share of the family's 1998 income came from the sale of the Texas Rangers baseball team, of which Bush was a managing partner before being elected governor in 1994. Bush bought into the Rangers in 1989 for just over $600,000. When the club was sold last summer his share of the sale profits was about $14.9 million. Bush's 1998 taxable income also included $88,008 from his $99,121 state salary (As with other state employees, part of Bush's salary is withheld for retirement and not taxable in the current year). And what about charitable giving (an area that got Democratic front-runner Al Gore in trouble last year?) The Bushes reported giving $334,425 to churches and charitable organizations over the year.

GOP governors provide Bush key support

Add one more Republican governor to the list of political heavyweights firmly in Gov. Bush's corner. Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, a tax-cutting conservative, will join the parade of GOP chief executives to endorse his Texas colleague for the GOP 2000 presidential nomination, even though Bush has yet to announce if he will run. Gilmore is scheduled to announce the endorsement in Richmond Friday. Though it is still early in the campaign season, Bush has already lined up support from a majority of the nation's 31 GOP governors, and Gilmore is the 15th GOP governor to publicly endorse him. One of those key supporters, Michigan Gov. John Engler, is providing more than nominal backing. Engler is turning out to be a prodigious fund-raiser as well. Of the $7.6 million raised in the first quarter of 1999, as reported by Bush's operation to the Federal Election Commission Thursday, $402,035 in contributions came from the state of Michigan, placing it third among Bush's donors.

Gore hires female strategist as deputy campaign director

Vice President Al Gore has tapped Stacie Spector, deputy communications director at the White House, to serve as his deputy campaign managers for his 2000 presidential bid. Spector will move over to the Gore campaign to assist campaign manager Craig Smith and be director of strategic operations, according to anonymous campaign sources speaking to The Associated Press. Spector, 35, is a veteran strategist, having already worked on several national campaigns including a tour as deputy communications director of the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign. Also, top Senate Democratic communications aide Laura Quinn will join the vice president's office as deputy chief of staff. The Democratic front-runner has come under some criticism for not having enough women in his inner circle of advisers.

Friday, April 16, 1999

• Indicted contributor faces more charges
• Dole: Suffering in Balkans 'absolutely horrific'
• Parties wage war over 2000 census
• Campaign 2000 briefs: Bush pays taxes, raises money; Gore adds to staff
• Ex-Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung to testify before House committee
• McDougal foreman discusses case
• DNC chairman shuffles staff
• Alabama House votes to repeal ban on interracial marriages
• Clinton finds time to raise money for politics
• Oregon man pleads guilty to threatening to kill President Clinton
• House subcommittee studies money laundering remedies
• Typo nearly causes Senate to shrink GOP tax cut

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