Vice President Cheney on Senator Kerry's Record on Taxes and the Economy

George W. Bush ^ | March 29, 2004

[RWR8189]

In remarks to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today, Vice President Dick Cheney looked at the fine print and brought into clearer focus the sharp contrast between the President's principled leadership on the economy and John Kerry's campaign promises that are inconsistent with his long history of opposition to tax relief and policies of economic isolation.

"After attacking what he described as, quote, ‘Benedict Arnold' companies on the campaign trail, Senator Kerry is now proposing to give them a tax holiday. Putting aside this strange reversal, as usual, you have to look at the fine print," Cheney explained.

The President's pro-growth economic agenda, including the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan, has provided the stimulus and confidence to make the recession one of the shortest and shallowest in history. As 2004 begins, the U.S. economy is strong and growing stronger.

Senator Kerry has opposed tax relief for the American people as a matter of principle and has voted against virtually every tax cut at every turn. Kerry's "NO" votes now form the basis of his economic plan.

• Senator Kerry voted against creating the lower 10 percent tax rate for working families.
• Senator Kerry voted against reducing the tax rate on dividend income, which so many of America's seniors depend on.
• Senator Kerry voted against the higher expense deduction that has been so helpful to small businesses.
• Senator Kerry voted against repealing the death tax, and still supports reinstating it.
• Senator Kerry voted for the largest tax increase in American history.
• Senator Kerry voted to increase taxes on Social Security and Medicare.
• After voting three times to increase the gas tax – and once proposing to increase it by 50 cents a gallon, he now says he doesn't support it.
• Although he attacked Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean for being against a higher child credit, John Kerry has voted at least 18 times against expanding the child tax credit.
• In this campaign he has claimed that he, "fought hard to get rid of the marriage penalty," but in truth, he has voted at least 20 times against cutting the marriage penalty.
• Add it all up, and it turns out that John Kerry has voted in the Senate at least 350 times for higher taxes. ·

To get a clearer picture of what the first 100 days of a Kerry administration would look like, we only need to look back at his last 7,000 days in Washington. Over the same 20 years Senator Kerry was voting for higher taxes, he was also voting just as consistently in favor of new federal spending. This pattern has continued in his campaign for the presidency.

• At last count, candidate Kerry had offered 73 new spending proposals.
• So far, he's provided details for just 28 of those 73 – and they alone would add up to $1.7 trillion in new spending by the federal government over the next 10 years.
• A math problem arises: Using a generous estimate, Kerry's plan for higher taxes would raise $700 billion dollars. With $1.7 trillion in new spending, however, that leaves a gap of $1 trillion dollars!
• Kerry would need to fill his "tax gap" with a major new tax increase on the workers, entrepreneurs, and investors of this country. With the recession behind us and a strengthening economy, a tax increase is exactly the wrong policy for America.

Now, just in time for campaign season, Senator Kerry is proposing what some are calling a tax reduction for businesses. Kerry's proposal, however, is inconsistent even with his own campaign positions and would amount to a tax increase on America's small businesses and corporations.

• After railing against so-called "Benedict Arnold" companies on the campaign trail, Kerry's new proposal would give them a tax holiday.
• In fact, his proposal would involve a massive tax increase for American companies that do business abroad. Senator Kerry's plan would simply give foreign competitors a leg up over American companies, and destroy jobs in the United States.

The fine print tells a story of a Kerry administration which would increase federal taxes, build a wall around our economy, and isolate America from the rest of the world. The facts, however, prove that the Bush Administration's clear, comprehensive, pro-growth agenda is working for America.

The President and Vice President understand that the best way to grow the economy and create jobs is to leave more money in the hands of people who earned it, continue to break down trade barriers so that high-quality American products find markets on every continent, and to prepare more workers for successful careers in this changing economy.

President Bush has shown confident, steady and principled leadership on the economy, and he has outlined the three most important responsibilities he will take to ensure sustained growth and job creation:

• Continue to open new, untapped markets for American goods and products: With five percent of the world's population, 95 percent of America's potential customers live beyond our borders. We cannot meet demand and create new jobs if we close off markets to America's workers. One in five factory jobs in this country directly depends on trade. The surest way to add more jobs is a confident policy of free trade with the world.
• Keep government on the side of growth and job creation: The President's tax cuts left money in the pockets of families and job creators at just the right time, and now Congress must act to make these tax reductions permanent. President Bush has a six-point plan for strengthening the economy which includes reducing the burden of lawsuits on our economy; ensuring an affordable, reliable energy supply; streamlining regulations and paperwork requirements; and making health care costs more affordable.
• Focus on job training and education so Americans can improve their skills and their lives: There is a lot of opportunity in a changing economy and the President passed historic, bipartisan education reform to ensure that all skills start with a good education. In his State of the Union Address, President Bush announced Jobs for the 21st Century – more than $500 million for a series of measures to better prepare current and future workers for jobs in the new millennium.

So, the American people will face a stark choice between a senator who would raise taxes, and a President who would cut them. A choice between a senator who makes endless promises of new federal spending, and a President who insists on spending discipline in Washington, D.C.

The Vice President told the Chamber in closing, "We have a record of achievement to show for this first term. And I am confident that seven months from now, with sharp alternatives before them, the American people will choose the confident, steady, principled leadership of George W. Bush."

[alancarp]

Bookmarked. "Big time".

[UCANSEE2]

Let's see......

Republican campaign statement = Facts of both sides.

Democrat campaign statement = Hype, supposition, gossip, and outright lies.

Wonder why I trust President Bush and his staff, and vote for him?

[Integrityrocks]

Now... we just need to get this all into the "sound bite" generations face. The public education system has succeeded in dumbing down Americans so much that all they can absorb are 3-word sound bites. So, how do we get all that information into their heads? Its no wonder that Kerry's sound bite of "Its the economy" or "Jobs stupid" are what have the majority of Americans actually believing that the economy is getting worse instead of better.

[joebren]

"A math problem arises: Using a generous estimate, Kerry's plan for higher taxes would raise $700 billion dollars. With $1.7 trillion in new spending, however, that leaves a gap of $1 trillion dollars!"

In fairness, that's not a math problem, rather, whoever is giving this evidence needs an economics lesson, particularly in the spending multiplier effect.