Posted on 10/22/2002 5:44:18 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Don't look now, but one of the Democratic Party's leading presidential candidates has just moved to the right of President Bush on economic policy and is now calling for massive, sweeping and immediate tax cuts - including the complete elimination of the capital gains tax and the suspension of sales taxes - to get the lagging economy moving again.
"What I'm really asking for is that we take the next phase of the Bush tax cuts that haven't gone into effect yet," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., "and take those tax cuts, which will effect the top two percent of the country, and recycle them; redirect them and bring them forward into business tax cuts."
In comments to WABC Radio's John Gambling, Lieberman said his Reaganesque tax cut plan would include "a new investment tax credit, a zero capital gains rate and some consumption tax incentives, including a rebate for 34 million Americans and a sales tax holiday for the holiday shopping season."
Before previewing his tax cut plan, which he planned to describe more fully in a speech to Wall Street later in the day, Lieberman slammed President Bush for "not providing any kind of economic plan of recovery."
"The president didn't cause the economic problems but he's not given the leadership to get us out of them," Lieberman told WABC. "And he's contributed to them with a tax cut last year that he pushed through that was just larger than we can afford."
So why the media silence on the supply-side switcherooo by one of Democratic Party's leading lights?
Notes Staten Island political analyst Kevin Collins: "Since there has been no further mention of Lieberman's economic conversion since Friday, we can assume that he has returned to the official party line."
NewsMax.com's Fr. Mike Reilly contributed this report
He has been for years now in Buffalo:
http://www.sabres.com/team/players/satan.html
Oh, Joe just wants to repeal the rest of the Bush tax cuts and replace them with something else more to his liking. That makes more sense. I don't see any new tax cuts here.
"What I'm really asking for is that we take the next phase of the Bush tax cuts that haven't gone into effect yet," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., "and take those tax cuts, which will effect the top two percent of the country, and recycle them; redirect them and bring them forward into business tax cuts."
snip...
"The president didn't cause the economic problems but he's not given the leadership to get us out of them," Lieberman told WABC. "And he's contributed to them with a tax cut last year that he pushed through that was just larger than we can afford."
Let's get this straight now. We need to take the Bush tax cuts, that are too large to "afford," and rework them around to be tax cuts that Lieberman likes. But if they are too large to be afforded, how can we give the cuts to someone else? At least Lieberman recognizes that we are overtaxed, he just disagrees with who gets the cut. At least Bush's plan goes to every individual in proportion to how much tax they already pay.
I think we should have Lieberman's tax cut ON TOP OF the cut already provided. The interesting thing is that, since I am married, one earner, with no children and no capital intensive business, the only benefit I get directly is from the 10% rate introduced by the Bush tax cut. But, unlike most of the people addressed by the Demoncrats, I am not interested in what I can get directly - I want a booming economy that will provide opportunities for me and all other Americans.
I agree with those expressing skepticism at these words. Watch what people do, not what they say. Let him sponsor a bill, let him tirelessly campaign for its passage. Then when it passes, let us congratulate him. In that order, and on those conditions.
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