GOP TAX CUTS ADVANCE

The Senate Finance Committee this afternoon approved the GOP tax cut proposal that Democrats claim Republicans would slash Medicare to pay for. On an 11-9 vote that split along party lines, the package would reduce taxes by $245 billion over the next seven years. The bill includes the $500-per-child tax credit featured prominently in the GOP's Contract With America, while it sharply reduces the Clinton Administration's earned-income tax credit. The bill now heads to the Senate floor as part of the larger Republican budget bill that seeks to eliminate the deficit by 2002.