Bush Unveils $674 Billion Economic Plan

Reuters via Yahoo ^ | 1/7/03

[B-bone]

Bush Unveils $674 Billion Economic Plan

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Tuesday proposed a $674 billion boost for a struggling U.S. economy with measures including an end to taxes that shareholders pay on dividends -- a move denounced by Democrats as a politically motivated windfall for the rich.

"I will ask members of both parties to work with me to secure our economic future. We cannot be satisfied until every part of our economy is healthy and vigorous," Bush said in a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago.

The "growth and jobs" package aims to kick-start the U.S. economy by encouraging consumer spending, promoting investment that will create jobs and helping the unemployed.

It will include the acceleration of across-the-board rate cuts, immediate tax relief for married couples and families with children, and bigger incentives for small businesses to invest in new equipment.

In all the White House says it will give 92 million taxpayers an average tax cut of $1,083 this year. Up to 35 million people who get income from dividends could benefit.

[Wphile]

Okay, fine...can I use your advise?

[Wphile]

Whoops...make that advice not advise. D'uh.

[freeper12]

>>Okay, fine...can I use your advise?

Buy low...sell high.

[hove]

I'm a huge fan of any and all tax cuts. Now when is he going to push for the elimination of the IRS? By the way....where does that $600B number come from? Is that money going in, or what? If so, where is the money coming from if we get tax cuts? Is he planning on tacking $600B to the already obscene national debt?

[oldcomputerguy]

"It seems to me that the value of a 401(k) as an investment opportunity has just been substantially depreciated"

It sure seems that way to me too. Nearing retirement I am soon to be more interested in income and dividends will be a significant part of that. Unless a provision is made for IRAs or 401ks to exclude income from included dividends then you would essentially be paying a penalty for getting your dividends in a tax deferred account. That might change the way 401k money is invested or, potentially, even how much is invested in 401ks.

[concerned about politics]

Okay, fine...can I use your advise?

Yeh. Buy low, sell high. LOL.

[EBUCK]

Exactly....where are the spending cuts that would make permentant tax cuts feasable?

I don't see'em, you see em?
I guess we have found a new species of gubment critter the "no-see-um spendfly".
You can hear em but you never see em.
Some folks think they're a myth, I'm starting to agree.

EBUCK

[Wphile]

Yeh. Buy low, sell high. LOL.

Really? Is that how it works? Okay, I'll try to remember that. LOL!

[concerned about politics]

Okay, fine...can I use your advise?

Here's a hint. Sometimes you have to sell short. Pick on the foreign stocks, though. LOL

[GretchenEE]

...I like tax cuts...just wish he did something really bold and got rid of the spending first....

Having patience will give time to show this president's whole agenda. Every indicator (including his own words) shows he wants the spending down, particularly when it's on pork. As a business major and a former business man, he knows the bottom line. But he has to leverage things, keeping in mind the present state of the economy and the will of Congress.

Those who have fed on pork to get themselves re-elected for generations need to be weaned ... slowly. Give him enough time and he'll make a significant cut into their porker habits, which is a Herculean task and cannot be done without a vibrant economy and the will of Congress being changed by degrees. Members of Congress have to learn that they can cut pork and still get re-elected. This will take a few election cycles at the very least. The best W can do is get the ball rolling, and he is.

It's one of those tortoise-and-the-hare things.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Mostly, but we only have surpluses if the economy is good anyway. Deficit spending is fine during an economic downturn as long as interest rates are low (and they are).

[princess leah]

RAT HEADS thought they would be "out front" of Bush's speech and get the jump on him...all they got was "road kill" while he rolled right over them in his SUV!

[freeper12]

>>Exactly....where are the spending cuts that would make permentant tax cuts feasable?

Thats the part I don't get...there seems to be no one in congress that cares anymore about the defecit/debt, and very, very few people here. I keep brining it up, but no one takes the bait.

A tax cut now, without corresponding spending cuts, is no different than going out any running up your credit card to buy something you can't afford. The bill eventually comes due.

[Wphile]

President'sEconomicSpeech

Here's the transcript.

[cake_crumb]

"John Edwards is so fullofshit..his eyes are brown....and so predictable, I'msorry I bothered to report what he said."

Edwards is a moron. He has no original thoughts. Everything that comes out of his mouth is the DLC party line, except for the outright lies : those are his alone. He brags about "Writing legislation" which was passed...and when you look up the bill he's bragging about (hard to do, since he also gets the names of the bills wrong) he isn't even listed as a sponsor.

He's a smoke and mirror creation of the Democrat Propaganda Machine. No wonder CNN interviews him so much.

[GretchenEE]

Re #82, in our state, if you look at the pattern when the dems are in control of the government, which is pretty much most of the time, our taxes are doled out in huge proportions to pay for the welfare state, but our public services, such as roads, are neglected to the point of abject failure of public officials to do their jobs.

Thanks for the speech link!

[pfflier]

a move denounced by Democrats

Now there's a shocker

[oldcomputerguy]

"But how do you get your money OUT of a 401(k)?"

It can come out in cash or in company stock certificates depending on the plan. The bigger issue is self-directed IRAs invested in dividend paying stocks, and the tax on THOSE dividends.

When eligible I highly recommend removing your 401k money and reestablishing it in an IRA using direct transfer. After doing some research on 401ks, I find that most of the benefits and not mandated by law but only serve at the pleasure of your employer........like getting your money prior to age 65 for example. The next time your company is bought out or taken over, the benefits may not be the same anymore. I would never leave the money with the company after I left.

[concerned about politics]

Economic increase leads to tax revenue. The more people make, the more they spend, the more money taxed.
Government gets it back from the economic increase anyway.
[Pork, on the other hand, has no return (except votes)]
Reagan knew that. He put money back into the private sector, allowing it to build. The increase not only gave us the best economy ever, but a surplus to boot!

[freeper12]

>>Having patience will give time to show this president's whole agenda

That would be a nice thing to beleive, but somehow I doubt it. He is spending money like a drunken sailor, and cutting taxes at the same time. And its not just homeland security related...record spending at the dept of education, trying to grant SS coverage to MEXICANS living in mexico...the list goes on.

Bush has learned what all politicians apparently learned...there are just two parties, those in office, and those not in office...do all you can to protect your party.