EXINGTON, Ky. - Vice President Al Gore, traveling to a battleground state yesterday, formally unveiled his $200 billion plan to encourage low-income and middle-class Americans to invest in the stock market.
Right after his appearance in Kentucky, Gore interrupted his campaign swing by returning to Washington in case he was needed to break a tie Senate vote on hate crimes legislation. As it turned out, his vote was not needed.
Speaking to several hundred supporters at Lexington's Heritage Hall, Gore described a plan he called ''Retirement Savings Plus,'' which he said differed from a similar sounding plan offered by his Republican rival George W. Bush.
''My plan for private savings and investment is very different from what others have proposed in this election,'' Gore said. ''It doesn't come at the expense of Social Security. It comes in addition to Social Security.''
He also took a veiled swipe at Bush's father, George Bush, who left the White House in 1993.
Saying the American people are responsible for the current economic boom, Gore told the crowd, ''Let's remember: the American people have always been hard-working. They were certainly working hard in 1991.''
''But they were hampered by bad choices at the top and worn down by looking at a burdened future,'' he added. ''I will not be dragged back to the days when people worked just as hard, with far less to show for it.''
It was the first stop on a five-day trek through Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, California, and Florida, the second week of his so-called Prosperity and Progress Tour and the first full week with his new campaign manager, former Commerce Secretary William Daley.
Gore's retirement savings plan would offer tax relief for couples and individuals who make less than $100,000 a year, but those couples who make less than $30,000 or individuals who make less than $15,000 would get the biggest tax-relief benefit: $3 for each dollar invested, up to $2,000 a year, to produce a retirement nest egg of $200,000 over 35 years, according to the Gore campaign.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has spent weeks criticizing Bush for suggesting workers could invest Social Security money in the stock market.
