Giuliani: Dems want nanny government By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer

Giuliani: Dems want nanny government By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer
36 minutes ago



MEREDITH, N.H. - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani on Monday accused Democrats of favoring a controlling "nanny government" as he continued his bashing of the rival party.

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The former New York mayor, opening a two-day campaign trip in the first primary state, also claimed that Democrats would raise taxes between 20 percent to 30 percent. He offered no specifics to back up those figures.

"Democrats are kind of falling over each other seeing who can raise taxes faster," Giuliani said. "It looks like they're going to raise taxes anywhere between 20 to 30 percent. John Edwards just said he's going to raise the capital gains tax double that. Last time we did that, we lost 40 percent in revenue. The last time we did what John Edwards is discussing, the United States lost revenue by basically discouraging people from making investments."

Edwards has proposed raising capital gains taxes for the wealthy while creating tax breaks for the middle class. An Edwards spokeswoman said Giuliani's assessment is flat wrong.

"To be honest, I think voters get really confused when they hear Giuliani speak, since it's hard to tell the difference between the failed economic policies of George Bush and the failed economic policies supported by Rudy Giuliani," Kate Bedingfield said.

At a later appearance in Wolfeboro — where rival Mitt Romney has a lakefront summer home — Giuliani said the solution lies in lower taxes.

"We should love this problem of taxes being too high by lowering taxes," he said, standing on the steps of an ice cream shop.

Last week, Giuliani called the Democrats the "party of losers" and singled out Edwards and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for criticism on economics and foreign policy.

Giuliani argued that he favors less government and lower taxes.

"That's what makes America great, not this nanny government that Democrats want to give us, where government controls your entire life," he said.

Giuliani leads in some national polls, but trails former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by double figures in the most recent New Hampshire surveys.

On Tuesday, Giuliani intends to outline his health care plan. Giuliani's goal is to give individuals more control over health care decisions and to encourage state officials to come up with innovative solutions.

Key to his plan is a $15,000 tax deduction for families to buy private health insurance, instead of getting insurance through employers. Any leftover funds could be rolled over year-to-year for medical expenses, under Giuliani's plan.

"That cash allows you to go out and buy cheaper and cheaper policies; you can have higher and higher deductibles," Giuliani said earlier this month in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

He compared private health plans to plasma TVs, saying the plans would come down in cost as demand grows.