October 31, 2002

WASHINGTON - Darrell McKigney, President of the Small Business Survival Committee, says he's concerned that Former Vice President Walter Mondale hasn't learned the most obvious lesson from the economic dark days of the Carter-Mondale years: high taxes are bad for the economy.  

In his acceptance speech after receiving the DFL nomination last night, Mondale criticized the income tax cuts passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last year.

"Obviously, in the 22 years Walter Mondale has been out of public office, he hasn't learned that high taxes are bad for the economy," said McKigney.  "I worry that Mr. Mondale would want to put the top income tax rate back to 70% where it was when he left the White House."

McKigney pointed out that at the end of the Carter-Mondale administration, the top income tax rate in the country was 70%.   As a candidate for President in 1984, Mondale criticized President Reagan for cutting taxes and made increasing taxes the centerpiece of his campaign promises.  By the end of Reagan's term, the top income tax rate was 28%.   Today, the top income tax rate is 39%, roughly half of what it was at the end of the Carter-Mondale administration.

"Based on his statements last night, it sounds like Walter Mondale has been out of touch these past two decades and hasn't heard that America's taxpayers and small businesses don't want to see their taxes doubled.  

"Mondale was comfortable with a 70% tax rate when he was Vice President.  He opposed the Reagan tax cuts, and now has criticized the Bush tax cuts.  I think Mr. Mondale has an obligation to tell us exactly what he thinks income tax rates should be," McKigney concluded.

The Small Business Survival Committee is a 70,000 member nonprofit nonpartisan small business advocacy organization.  Find out more at www.sbsc.org