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John Edwards for President 2004 Website Issues

John Edwards 2004 On The Issues

 

John Edwards' Plan To Reward Work And Create Opportunity


John Edwards believes it’s time to restore our values to the economy, by rewarding those low-income and middle-class Americans who earn a paycheck every week. His plan asks the very wealthiest Americans to pay the same taxes on their investments that regular people pay on their salaries. And his plan provides tax cuts for working Americans so they can achieve their dreams – to buy a home, pay for education, save for retirement, and give their children a better future.

The plan also restores fiscal discipline so that this generation does not pass the buck to future generations.


  • Help poor and middle-class Americans build their wealth - cutting taxes on home ownership and savings for these Americans.

  • Create a tax code that reflects our values.

  • Restore fiscal responsibility so that this generation does not pass its problems on to the next generation.



Help Working Americans Build Their Wealth

The American Dream Tax Credit
Edwards' American Dream Tax Credit will offer a matching tax credit of up to $5,000 to help those who need it to cover a down payment on a first home. This credit will give millions of Americans their first chance to own a home.

Incentives to Invest and Save
To help working Americans invest in American business, Edwards will cut capital gains taxes for 95% of Americans. For these taxpayers, he will create a $1,000 exclusion from capital gains taxes, as well as $500 dividend exclusion. He will also lower the long-term capital gains rate for middle-class families. These steps will simplify tax filing and eliminate two tax forms for millions of Americans.

Matching Savings Accounts for Retirement
Edwards will give Americans who have the most trouble saving today a chance to save through matching savings accounts.

He will match $1 in private savings with as much as a $1 refundable tax credit for savings, up to a limit of $1,000 per couple, for Americans with incomes up to $50,000. A working family that saves and receives the maximum under this plan every year from age 25 to retirement will have a nest egg of $200,000, on top of other savings.

Create A Tax Code That Reflects Our Values

Tax Millionaires No Less Than Secretaries
Edwards will make the tax rate for the unearned income of the wealthiest 1 percent equal to the top income tax rate on earned income for middle-class families consisting of teachers, nurses, and secretaries. Edwards will set the top rate on capital gains at 25 percent for people earning over about $400,000, less than the top 1 percent of Americans.

Edwards will also repeal the Bush tax cuts that benefit only the top 2 percent of Americans, including the new top two tax rates on income, and the new rates on income from dividends and capital gains for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. Only those earning about $240,000 or more are in the top two income tax brackets. In addition, Edwards will retain the tax on very large estates.

Restore Fiscal Discipline

Eliminate Bush Tax Cuts for Wealthiest
Edwards will eliminate George Bush's irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthiest.

Stop Excessive Spending
Edwards will:

  • Reinstate real budget caps and permanently restore pay- as-you-go budget enforcement rules.

  • Use attrition to reduce the number of government employees and contractors, excluding defense and homeland security, by 10 percent over 10 years.

  • Close government agencies that have outlived their usefulness, such as the Office of Thrift Supervision.

  • Open more government procurement to competitive bidding.


Cut Corporate Subsidies
Edwards will:

  • End the excessive profits that banks earn on student loans.

  • Stand up to insurance companies, drug companies, and HMOs to reduce health care costs while improving the quality of health care.

  • Cut federal subsidies for major oil companies, mining on public lands, and millionaires operating farms.

  • Create a commission to examine and eliminate unneeded corporate subsidies.


Close Pointless Tax Loopholes
Edwards will:

  • Eliminate tax loopholes that allow companies to avoid taxes by renouncing their U.S. citizenship.

  • End corporate tax deductions for companies that buy "janitor's insurance"�life-insurance policies on rank-and-file employees whose families never see a dime in benefits from those policies.

  • Require companies to explain the differences between the profits they report to investors and those they report to the IRS, and crack down on peddlers of abusive tax shelters.

  • Enforce our tax laws to collect from wealthy corporations and individuals who do not pay.


Edwards' proposals will save more than $2 trillion over the next 20 years. These proposals reduce the deficit, protect Social Security, and support the critical investments in education, health care, and economic growth that Edwards has proposed.

Source: John Edwards for President 2004 Web Site

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