GENE RANDALL, CNN ANCHOR: President Clinton today vetoed Republican-backed legislation to abolish the Marriage Tax Penalty. The president called the measure the first installment of a fiscally reckless tax strategy. CNN White House correspondent Major Garret is covering the president on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts -- Major.</s>MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Gene. Well, the president is mingling a little bit of rest and relaxation with presidential business and also a little bit of fund- raising for the Democratic Party. The president vetoed the Republican Marriage Tax Penalty bill this morning before going off to play a round of golf here at Martha's Vineyard. In his weekly address, the president said that the tax cut really would do violence to his entire two-term record of combining fiscal discipline, targeting tax cuts and spending more on key domestic priorities.</s>WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For seven and a half years, we've achieved those great goals in the economy, and education, and welfare reform, and health care, and crime, and the environment and building one America. If we want to keep making progress, we've got to keep making good choices, and committing a hundred percent of the surplus that may or may not materialize to tax cuts is not a good choice.</s>GARRETT: That's really the heart of the president's message to the American public. The Republican tax cuts, which on the surface appear very popular, in fact, we'd spend all the protected surpluses, something the president said he's worked very hard to create and the country should work even harder to protect -- Gene.</s>RANDALL: Thank, Major.
Clinton Vetoes Legislation to Abolish Marriage Tax Penalty