Des Moines Register: Forbes objects to content of Bush campaign ads

October 27, 1999
Web posted at: 4:53 p.m. EDT (2053 GMT)

DES MOINES, Iowa (Des Moines Register) -- Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes accused Republican front-runner George W. Bush of overstating his thriftiness as Texas governor in Bush's new campaign ad now running in Iowa.

Forbes' national campaign chairman Ken Blackwell said, "The truth is Governor Bush has not been a successful leader in restraining spending."

The Bush ad says the Texas governor has "reduced the growth of state government spending to the lowest in 40 years." But the Forbes' campaign and others were saying Tuesday that state spending has risen about 35 percent since Bush took office. Blackwell said federal government spending by contrast has increased 21 percent since 1992.

Bush's Iowa spokesman Eric Woolson said Bush's critics need to remember Texas' growing population. He said Bush has kept per-capita state spending to a growth rate of 2.7 percent compared with 31 percent over the three budgets before Bush took office.

This report provided by Des Moines Register.com.

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Des Moines Register: Forbes objects to content of Bush campaign ads

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Wednesday, October 27, 1999