John Kerry Offers A Tax Holiday

You don't need a blog to tell you that the economy sucks right now. We all know that. We know that America has lost 2.7 million jobs since that sad day when President Clinton left office. We know that it isn't all Mr. Bush's fault. It certainly wasn't his fault that we were attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001. It isn't his entire fault. Some of it is though.

Bush's two tax cuts, supposedly an attempt at reviving the economy, have made matters worse. His idea is that the money will go back into the hands of the rich, and eventually they will restart the economy. After an undetermined amount of time, the money will filter back down to the people on the bottom. That's you and me.

Senator John Kerry endorses the plan put forward by Former Secretary of Labor Dr. Robert Reich. This plan calls for a "Payroll Tax Holiday," in which the first $10,000 is not taxed. Each American worker would then get a tax rebate.

For more information on this idea, I have included part of an article from the Concord Monitor.

Kerry offers economic solutions
He wants payroll tax holiday
Friday, Jun 20, 2003By DANIEL BARRICK
Monitor staff

Concord
Sen. John Kerry offered his solution for navigating the country out of the economic doldrums yesterday, a situation he called "deeply disturbing" and "bleaker than we would like it to be."

Speaking at the Capitol Center for the Arts, Kerry described his recipe for economic recovery, which includes a "payroll tax holiday" for all working Americans; creating jobs through federal work programs, such as repairing highways and school buildings; expanding high-speed Internet access to more rural areas; and reducing America's dependence on foreign oil through alternate energy sources.

"The United States cannot drill ourselves out of this problem," Kerry said of the country's growing energy needs. "We have to invent ourselves out of this problem."

"We deserve leaders who are going to have the courage to stand up and present real choices to Americans, not these fudgy ones that take us down a very wobbly road, to a very dangerous place," he said.

With a single gesture, Kerry summed up his opinion of the president's approach to health care. Holding up his thumb and forefinger in a circle, he accused Bush of offering "a big zero" to uninsured Americans.

Instead, Kerry offered what he called two "counter-inflationary pressures" on the nation's health care system. One option would let all Americans buy into the health plan available to federal employees, including politicians. He also described a "federal insurance pool," which would cover 75 percent of the most expensive health care cases for small-business owners.

Kerry's "payroll tax holiday" would replace the president's most recent tax cuts, which the senator claimed favor the wealthy rather than wage earners. Kerry's plan would apply to the first $10,000 of wages, providing each worker with $765, and would be paid out of general revenues.

Matt Huot, 20, of Laconia, Tim Stumhofer, 19, of Lee, and Jerry Obey, 19, of Loudon - snapped photographs of Kerry as he exited the Capitol Center. The young men said they were impressed by the senator's enthusiasm and approach to issues like energy policy.

"He brings up vision, rather than just talking about problems we have now," said Obey.

(Daniel Barrick can be reached at 224-5301, ext. 322, or by e-mail at dbarrick@cmonitor.com.)