John Kerrys Plan for Economic Growth essays

John Kerry's Plan for Economic Growth essays There are a few distinct differences between Senator John Kerry and President George Bush's tax proposals. The economic and fiscal effects of those proposals will also be different. In the wake of a recession caused by the tech-bust of the late '90s and the negative effects of September 11th, President Bush pushed the largest tax cut in United States history through Congress. The recession turned out to be the shortest lived in American history. In the last thirteen months, 1.5 million new jobs have been created, home ownership is at an all-time high, and the unemployment rate is lower than that of the average rate of the '90s. President Bush's current plan is to make these tax cuts permanent in an effort to maintain the economy's steady rise. Both plans include marriage penalty relief and doubled child tax credit. The major difference is that part of Senator Kerry's tax plan is to roll back the tax cut on the wealthiest Americans to increase government revenue and thus decreas e the deficit. Raising taxes on wealthy Americans, however, would, in fact, have a very negative long-term effect on our economy. Long-term, economists universally agree that the most effective way to bolster the economy and at the same time increase government revenue is to keep unemployment down and increase disposable household income. However, under Senator Kerry's plan, the unemployment rate will likely rise, and total household disposable income will surely decline. Approximately 60% of jobs in this country are created by small businesses. A vast majority of those small businesses are owned by the wealthiest Americans (over $200,000 annual income). Rolling back the tax cut on these tax brackets essentially raises taxes on small businesses. The problem is when small business owners pay more taxes, they make discretionary decisions to hire fewer new workers and are reluctant to risk capital to expand their businesses. In many cases, workers ...