Economic Focus Helps Kerry

[DrFunkenstein]

August 31, 2003
The Boston Globe
by Thomas Oliphant

-snip-

Discipline must be maintained over the huge federal budget, and trade policy must be "progressive" to foster American exports, meaning no rollbacks of existing international agreements and a willingness to pursue new ones. That is the essence of Kerry's approach, which stands not only as a solid means of reversing an astonishingly poor record by the Bush administration but as a forceful rebuke of two competitors -- Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt -- who have let their fixation on a single issue (universal health insurance) cloud their judgment about the income tax burden on ordinary Americans.

It sounds tough, and it appeals to the anti-Bush in most Democrats these days, to call for the repeal of all of the tax cuts. However, that means far more than the unconscionable slashes in the top rate paid by the most wealthy, the cut in taxes on stock dividends, and the lowered capital gains rate.

-snip-

This portion of Kerry's speech deserves repeating: "We shouldn't make it harder for middle-class families to make ends meet and we shouldn't turn our backs on making the 21st century work for all of us. But some in my party are so angry at George Bush and his unfair tax cuts that they think the solution is to do the exact opposite."

Anger, the source of Dean's surge, is a poor substitute for sound policy. His proposal would raise the income tax burden on middle-income households by as much as $2,000 a year, putting a ridiculously brutal squeeze on families, the elderly included, that are being pinched by hard times and the rising cost of essentials as never before.

Kerry's proposal shows how concentrating on the top-rate tax cuts and other high-income areas yields more than enough money to stimulate the economy in the short-term, but also to slash the deficit over time so massive federal borrowing doesn't choke off recovery.

The key, as Clinton showed, is carefully targeted stimuli and new discipline on overall government spending. Kerry emphasizes a tax credit for new hires by manufacturing firms, serious aid to state and local governments whose budget crises are a serious drag on the economy, and assistance to families in financing higher education. At the same time, he recommends the return of strict, pay-as-you go, budget rules for new initiatives.

There are signs that Dean's campaign recognizes its exposed position on taxes. Already, he has begun to speak vaguely of supporting tax reform that would ease the burden on workers with modest incomes.

http://www.johnkerry.com/news/clips/news_2003_0831.html

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[virtualobserver]

1. I would prefer a focus on eliminating the top-rate tax cuts

But I fear for any President that has to tackle the mess that Bush will leave behind.

[ModerateMiddle]

2. oh yeah, me too

I wonder how much slack they're gonna cut a Dem Prez after this mess gets left? I know that trying to do more to clean up the deficit than Kerry is proposing would devastate our fragile recovery, but I am also afraid that there is a balanced budget obsessed candidate who won't take that into consideration.

Great editorial, but then I'm biased :D