John Edwards 2004 On The Issues

John Edwards' Plan To Create Jobs, Strengthen the Economy, and Stand Up for Working Americans

John Edwards has a plan to put America back to work, and create more opportunities for more Americans than ever before. George Bush believes in rewarding the wealthy, a few people at the top, not the work of the middle class, and during his Presidency, America has lost more than 3 million private-sector jobs. John Edwards has a plan to create jobs with a 10 percent tax credit for companies that keep jobs in America, a venture capital fund to bring jobs to those areas hardest hit in the Bush economy, new tax credits for working Americans to buy their first home, save for retirement, or save for child's education. As President, John Edwards will end this president's war on work.

Creating Jobs:
"Jobs are not just about paychecks. They are about respect and dignity. It is time for leaders to honor working Americans again. Instead of giving tax breaks to companies that move their headquarters overseas, we should offer tax incentives for companies to manufacture here in America. We should be exporting American products, not American jobs."

Rewarding Work:
"This administration's economic vision has one goal: to get rid of taxes on unearned income and shift the burden onto people who work. They want a world where the only people who have to pay taxes are the ones who do the work. I believe the backbone of the American economy is the hard work, determination, and ingenuity of the middle class, not the insiders. I believe the way to grow the economy is to grow and strengthen the middle class, not shrink its size and add to its burdens. I believe the way a rich nation gets richer is by giving all its citizens the chance to get richer, not by only helping those like me who've already succeeded beyond our wildest dreams."

Corporate Responsibility:
"Our economy, our people, and our nation have been undermined by the crony capitalists who believe that success is all about working the angles, working the phones, and rigging the game, instead of hard work, innovation and frugality. We will never turn this country around until we put our economy and our government back in line with our values. My ideas are based on principles as old as America. Corporate books should be honest. Rewards should be based on accomplishment. Executives and other insiders should be accountable. And businesses have responsibilities to their workers, not just the other way around."

Details of John Edwards Jobs and Economic Growth Plan

For a detailed explanation about how John Edwards plans to create jobs and strengthen our economy over the long-term so that everyone has the chance to succeed, click here and read his fact sheets. To learn more about his specific proposals, click on each of the following links.

Create Good Jobs Here At Home

Negotiate Fair Deals For American Workers

Free trade has to be fair trade. As president, Edwards will be a tough negotiator on trade, and will only negotiate trade Agreements that meet these basic principles:

Agreements should be fair and enforceable.
Agreements should have strong labor and environmental protections.
Agreements should have real, tangible benefits for U.S. businesses and U.S. workers.
Both sides should give up something, not just America.

Stand Up for U.S. Trade Rights

Our country needs to enforce the trade agreements that we have on the books.

For example, we run a $100 billion trade deficit with China - the largest in history between any two nations - in part because of lax Chinese trade law enforcement. It's time to hold other countries to their commitments.

Keep Companies At Home

Some in Washington are pushing tax proposals that could encourage corporations to move overseas at the same time as they protect tax cuts for corporations that renounce their U.S. citizenship.

Edwards believes that at a time when we have lost more than 2 million manufacturing jobs, we should keep jobs here at home.

He will give a 10 percent tax cut to corporations that produce goods here and keep jobs at home. Edwards will stop corporations from getting tax cuts for renouncing their citizenship.

Bring Jobs Back To The Communities That Have Lost Them

Get Our Economy Back On Track

The best way to create jobs is to get our economy back on track. Edwards will:

Honor the values of work and opportunity that have helped our country become the most prosperous in history.
Insist on a responsible budget.
Invest in our future competitiveness through education and innovation.
Stand up to crony capitalists who are putting their private interests ahead of the public corporations they run.

Provide Venture Capital

Edwards will enact the Rural Economic Advancement Challenge, or REACH fund, to bring venture capital and management expertise to entrepreneurs and small businesses in small towns and areas that are losing jobs today.

Create Economic Revitalization Zones

Edwards will designate towns and areas hard hit by foreign trade as Economic Revitalization Zones that are eligible for tax credits and other aid to encourage business investment.

Fuel America's Future

Edwards has proposed the Fueling America's Future program to promote renewable fuels. He will support the creation of new bio refineries to transform agricultural wastes - like corn husks, rice straw and wood chips - into energy. In addition to helping end our dependence on foreign fuels, this plan will create good manufacturing jobs for working Americans.

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.

Corporate Responsibility.

Strengthen The Rights Of Working Americans

Increase The Minimum Wage

When inflation is taken into account, the minimum wage today is more than 20 percent below its level in 1979. Edwards believes that low-income working people deserve better. He supports an increase in the minimum wage of at least $1.50.

Extend Unemployment Benefits

Under George Bush, nearly 2 million Americans have been looking for work for six months or longer. These Americans are trying to do right by their families, and Edwards believes they deserve unemployment benefits in the Bush economy.

Protect Worker Safety

Every year, millions of American workers are injured on the job. Many of these injuries could be avoided through small improvements in workplace conditions. Edwards supports real standards to protect against workplace injuries.

Reform America's Labor Laws

Working people deserve the right to decide whether to join a union without harassment or fear.

America's labor laws do not truly protect that right. In one quarter of efforts to organize a union, workers are fired illegally. Edwards will overhaul our labor laws to make sure that Americans can make a free decision whether to join a union.

Create A Tax Code That Reflects Our Values

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 $300,000, 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 $200,000 or more are in the top two income tax brackets. In addition, Edwards will retain the tax on very large estates.
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Restore Fiscal Discipline

Restore Fiscal Discipline
Edwards will eliminate George Bush's irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthiest.

Stop Excessive Spending

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