GOP Rallies Attack Clinton Stimulus Plan : Politics: Republicans borrow White House tactic with meetings in 13 states. President boosts his efforts in Pittsburgh.

WASHINGTON —  Borrowing a favorite Clinton Administration maneuver, GOP lawmakers blitzed the nation Saturday in a series of town hall meetings aimed at rallying public opinion against White House economic policies.

During 19 meetings in 13 states, House and Senate Republicans highlighted their arguments against President Clinton’s $16.3-billion plan to stimulate the economy.

Clinton laid out his case during a visit to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he urged Americans to stand with him against the 43 GOP lawmakers who have blocked the stimulus plan with a Senate filibuster.

The Republicans’ road show, their first nationally coordinated move against Clinton’s economic policies, was reminiscent of the campaign Clinton and members of his Cabinet conducted two months ago to generate public support for the Administration’s long-term economic agenda, of which the stimulus plan is an element.

During a 2 1/2-hour meeting in the GOP stronghold of Orange County, four lawmakers assailed the Clinton economic plan before a friendly audience of almost 700 people.

The crowd jeered at the first mention of the health care reform package being developed by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and repeatedly cheered as the Republicans called the Administration’s economic stimulus plan a deception.

“There’s a crime taking place,” Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) told the group crowded into the Fullerton Senior Multi-Service Center for the only GOP meeting on the West Coast. “They are stealing your money. The taxes have gone way beyond the moral and ethical standards of that relationship between willing citizens supporting the government that they feel is ethical and really works for them.”

Bolstering their argument with charts, statistics and other documents, the lawmakers described the Democratic economic plan as “taxing and spending” that will not create jobs. Instead, they said, the policies will make the economy worse.

“Are you undertaxed?” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) asked the audience.

“No!” they shouted back.

The crowd showed equal disagreement with what Rohrabacher called “socialized medicine,” booing when one person held up a recent newspaper reporting that the Administration is reconsidering a national value-added tax to pay for its sweeping health care reforms.

Dornan and Rohrabacher were joined by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) and Rep. Dick Armey (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Republican Conference, who acknowledged that the Republican strategy for the meetings was inspired by the Administration’s tactics.

“We’re taking our show on the road, just like the Cabinet secretaries have done,” Armey said. “President Clinton is turning the White House into one big satellite dish, and this type of coordination is going to be more and more necessary for Republicans in Congress to get our message out to the American people.”

In Pennsylvania, Clinton told a supportive crowd at Pittsburgh International Airport that his proposals would qualify the airport for $3.5 million in federal funds to relocate a taxiway and $4.7 million for a runway extension project--both of which are intended to produce jobs in the community.

But such economic benefits are being held hostage by the gridlock on Capitol Hill, Clinton said.

The President urged members of the crowd to apply pressure on Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican who voted against the White House economic plan. “I came here today asking you to ask Sen. Specter to untangle this gridlock,” Clinton said.

He also repeated his offer to trim $4 billion from his stimulus plan, a proposal that Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas rejected on Friday.

The Administration’s stimulus program is intended to act like “striking a match,” igniting a fire under this nation’s recession-dampened economy, Clinton said.

“It was a disciplined, limited, targeted plan, clearly designed to get this economy going again in the short run,” he said. “And that is what I’ve asked the House and the Senate to adopt.

“I want to ask you to help us put America back to work,” he added. “I want to ask you to help keep the movement going.”

Fulwood reported from Washington and Martinez from Orange County.