If I were to draw a cartoon, of the democrat candidates for president, it would be a quick sketch of a bunch of little puppies attacking the pant legs of a man calming and quietly, going about his business. Each one of these little guys would have the names of all the men who think that attacking Bush will win them the hearts and minds of the American people. And the more they are tuned out, ignored, and smiled at, the more shrill they get.

These pups continue to blast Bush for his military victories, security successes, and solid leadership . . . because they have nothing concrete to complain about. Yet, these are the same people who supported their hero, Bill Clinton, no matter how much shame and disgrace he heaped upon us. They shrugged at the knowledge that Clinton had several opportunities to apprehend Osama Bin Laden, which would have prevented the disastrous attack on America, September 11. They yawn at the idea that the Clinton Administration led an unprovoked, preemptive attack on several sovereign nations with not one whisper of discontent from these little pups.

They continue to claim that Republicans want tax cuts for the rich without acknowledging that all their big spending programs should be cut as well. They complain that the homeland is not protected when they held up the appropriations and approval for months while they insisted that it all be unionized. They are hoping beyond hope that America is attacked again so that they can incorporate a disaster into their daily carping strategy. They are praying for an “I told you so” opportunity to stress to the American people that they would be the best person to guarantee a secure future for us.

They still refuse to acknowledge that saving millions of people in Iraq from oppression and control by a vicious dictator was a good thing, insisting though that they support our military. They revile the Commander in Chief . . . but support the military . . . but not necessarily what the military does, or the justness of their cause. Talk about fence sitting. They are scared to death that the military is in full retreat to the Republican party and resort to chastising the President for visiting them on board the USS Abe Lincoln. An act that every president before him has done in one form or another to honor our troops.

The problem with little puppies, as cute and entertaining as they can be . . . you still need to pick up after them because they are not yet house trained. There is not one that is emerging as a statesman. They are all politicians, regurgitating a failed and antiquated line by their disenfranchised party. There is not an original idea that doesn’t have a huge price tag attached to it, that would further erode individual choice. They want nationalized health care so that when this exorbitant idea is rejected, they can point to the Republicans as being heartless. When extended unemployment benefits are rejected . . . because they want to keep that unemployment figure high, for at least another year . . . they claim the Republicans are heartless.

When they fight tax cuts for every single tax payer in the country, no matter how little they make and pay, they claim it is a risky scheme by the Republicans to pay off their wealthy friends . . . all 92 million of them. The simple answer to that debate is let it be a voluntary tax cut. We would then expect to see every single democrat, demagoguing on this issue, to refuse their portion of the tax cut. Right? Right.

We shouldn’t be surprised that puppies do what puppies do. They have no vision and only see the immediate leg in front of them and feel they are accomplishing some great and significant task by attacking it. But in reality, they are showing they have no leadership skills, they have no vision or purpose in their desire to be president, and they could care less about the future and health of the nation . . . as long as they get elected, and stay in power, that is all that matters.

But the real danger is, when the pack of puppies grows up, has real teeth and can reach the jugular. What is cute and entertaining today . . . could be deadly tomorrow.

Pick a Title . . .Title 1: Weapons of Mass Destruction Exist only if Democrats Say they Do… Title 2: Senators Carl Levin and John Kerry are Lying.

Every time I hear a democrat claim that President Bush deceived us about Weapons of Mass Destruction being hidden in Iraq, I think of my son’s 8th birthday. Isn’t the mind a wonderful thing . . . two totally unrelated issues are drawn together on one common thread. While we were passing out party hats and serving ice cream, almost five years ago, the Senate Armed Services Committee was sending a letter to President Bill Clinton containing a resolution supporting military action “if diplomacy did not succeed in convincing Saddam Hussein to comply with the United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning the disclosure and destruction of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.”

The letter goes on to say, “Despite a brief interval of cooperation . . . Saddam Hussein has failed to live up to his commitments. On August 5, Iraq suspended all cooperation with UNSCOM and IAEA. . . . Iraq has consistently sought to limit, mitigate, reduce and, in some cases, defeat the Security Council’s resolutions by a variety of devices.”

It further states that they are happy the Security Council is taking action, but doubt that Saddam will heed the message. They also said . . . “More deeply, we are concerned that without the intrusive inspections and monitoring by UNSCOM and the IAEA, Iraq will be able, over time, to reconstitute its weapons of mass destruction programs.” They then urged President Clinton to take action by saying . . . “After consulting with Congress and the US Constitution and laws, [we urge you] to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraq sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction program.”

So . . . what happened to that program that they and the UN were so convinced existed in 1998? Are they now saying it was a lie then and there was no threat from Iraq posed to the American people? Did they lie to the American people like they are claiming President Bush did by including a 16-word intelligence phrase about uranium sales from Niger to Iraq that is still being confirmed by British Intelligence?

This letter to President Bill Clinton, in 1998, constitutionally authorizing him to attack Iraq was signed by 27 senators, including . . . Chris Dodd, Carl Levin, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Mikulski, Tom Daschle, Daniel Inouye, Mary Landrieu and . . . John F. Kerry.

And in December of that same year, details emerged revealing Iraq’s con-compliance with getting rid of its WMDs. Clinton responded by saying, “Iraq repeatedly blocked UNSCOM from inspecting the sites, they restricted their ability to obtain necessary evidence, and they tried to stop the UNSCOM biological weapons team from videotaping a site and photocopying documents and preventing Iraqi personnel from answering their questions.” He pointed out that Iraq had failed to turn over virtually all documents requested by the inspectors. Documents that they obviously all agreed existed.

At the time of his statement, there were 15 U.S. warships, 97 aircraft . . . 70 aboard the USS Enterprise, and more than 12,000 military personnel in the area near Iraq. The ships were within easy striking distance of Baghdad, and were carrying more than 300 cruise missiles. So why did we have that much fire power in the area if we weren’t seriously concerned about what Saddam was up to? And as history will remind us, on the eve of the Impeachment vote against Clinton, for lying under oath and breaking his oath to uphold the Constitution, he orders a military strike against security targets in Iraq to “attack Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors. . . . Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison or biological weapons.” So, let me see if I understand . . . there WERE nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in 1998, and one strike by Clinton destroyed them ALL? Amazing.

Clinton goes on to explain the timing of the attack stating that while it is true there are many other nations that “possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles, with Saddam, there is one big difference: He has used them. Not once, but repeatedly . . . unleashing chemical weapons against Iranian troops . . . civilians, and Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq.”

He went on to justify his unilateral, preemptive attack on Iraq by saying, “The international community had little doubt then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again.” He then outlines, in detail, the failings of Iraq to comply with the UN inspectors, and the decision he made to attack them, militarily, hitting innocent civilians, and projecting the imperial powers of the United States on this poor, defenseless country. Oh . . . sorry, we never heard any of that rhetoric from the left when Clinton dropped bombs did we?

This was about weapons of mass destruction that every Clinton liberal believed existed in Iraq, who now insist were never there. What is it with liberals? Can facts change that quickly to justify an attack to hide one President’s indiscretions, but then vaporize when another President relies on the same intelligence to do precisely the same thing but for entirely different motivations? Remember . . . and we must continue to remind Clinton liberals who love to readjust history to suit their needs . . . September 11, 2001 occurred after 8 years of winking and nodding at terrorist acts and eviscerating our CIA and overseas intelligence ops. The CIA, FBI, NSA and other security agencies were riddled with Clinton appointees that had not yet been replaced on September 11, including the new head of the CIA. The vast majority of the intelligence that President Bush was receiving, was from Clinton holdovers. Are we to assume that they deceived the American people with the same mischievous intentions that they trashed the White House, stole the keys from computer key pads, and totally rewired the phone system so that it cost taxpayers millions of dollars to sort out the mess and clean up their vandalism?

Any lack of verifiable and accurate information that President Bush was receiving or not receiving at that time has to be placed on the door step of Clinton’s intelligence sources who, for eight years, continually lied to the American people about everything from the nuclear program in North Korea, to the secrets being sold to China.

But when there is proof that comes out of Iraq, that there are, or were, weapons of mass destruction, the Clinton liberals deny it and say that it is not enough to justify the liberation of those people. They ignore the pictures of the gassed Kurds, and the buyback plans for the nuclear waste barrels that the citizens were dumping out and using to store their food and water in. We have Iranian diplomats confessing that these weapons are now being sold on the black market because many were smuggled out . . . probably during the negotiating process with the UN and the world community. They have found mobile units with traces of biological weapons. Think about it . . they are developing weapons that are so powerful, even a few grains can kill you. Do you think they are storing them in a way that a few grains will be escaping? And what about the chemical experts they have captured that have verified, that yes, they were responsible for the production of such chemicals?

So what is it? Are there weapons or not? Was Clinton lying once again to cover himself and dropped bombs on innocent people to distract from his indiscretions? What about the silence from the usually vocal war protesters could be heard around the socialist circles of the world back in 1998. And are all these senators who signed that October 9, 1998 letter, seasonal in their concern for the safety of America and the world? Do they only rally to the cause of defeating tyranny when a fellow democrat is in power? Can they be trusted again? So who is being deceptive now?

But I think a very important question to ask every one of the democrat spokesmen who blindly follow the talking points they are handed is . . . ok, what do you want us to do? Let’s say there are no WMDs . . . if that is your big issue. Let’s say that Clinton, the democrat members of the US Senate, and even the current administration were all lying about the weapons of mass destruction. Let’s just have a do-over. Let’s invite Saddam and his sons back in, let’s re-open the prisons and roundup all those little kids we freed and put them back in the blood-soaked chains. Let’s re-hang the people from the meat hooks and plug in the plastic shredding machine. Let’s rebury all the victims of his tyranny back in those mass graves, let’s put all the ammo back in the schools were we found it and reinstate all the Republican Guard so they can now round up every person who waved at a US soldier, held and American flag, received a piece of candy or played soccer with one and have them all shot.

Let’s pull all the Iraqis off the USS Comfort and take out their IVs and remove their bandages and send them home. Let’s unplug the information system that for the first time brings real news to the people, and gives them the freedom to think for themselves. And let’s disband the diverse group of leaders who for the first time will provide democratic representation for all Iraqis.

Oh, and for all the liberal democrats who had no problem with Clinton doing exactly what Bush is doing, I want you to visit the homes of each one of the brave men and women who lost their lives to liberate these people and tell them they died in vain. Tell them that we are replacing the people they died to liberate, under the same tyrannical rule and shutting the door to their future and freedom. I want these compassionate liberals to look these grieving parents in the eye and tell them, because they don’t think we have moved fast enough to discover weapons, that they agreed were there before, that their son or daughter died in vain, because according to liberal democrats, it was only about the weapons.

Clinton stated in his address to the UN on September 21, 1998 that, “First, terrorism has a new face in the 1990s. Today terrorists take advantage of greater openness and the explosion of information and weapons technology. The new technologies of terror and their increasing availability, along with the increasing mobility of terrorists, raise chilling prospects of vulnerability to chemical, biological, and other kinds of attacks, bringing each of us into the category of possible victim. This is a threat to all humankind.”

Well I guess it is not that big a threat now, even though we have proof in the way of a gaping hole in New York City, a scarred Pentagon, and over 3,000 lost lives. Perhaps a bigger threat to mankind is a political party that is so consumed with power that it will do anything, say anything, believe anything, even if it means allowing murderous dictators to roam the earth and threaten our very existence, while claiming they want them destroyed, only if they are the ones doing it. The democrat party has become so desperate, so duplicitous, so riddled with hypocrisy that the only cause they have in any election is to destroy who is in power, at any cost, get elected, spin and distort history with double standards by denying they did or said what they did to get to power. Gee . . .that sounds a lot like tyranny.

The sound heard across America, attempting to drown out the President’s announcement of a tax cut for every single tax payer in the country, was the sound of Democrats locking and loading to shoot their lies and spins across the landscape.

Yes, you could hear the clips being snapped in place, the shells bolted in, chambers being filled with ammo fabricated by a party that is desperate to regain power, even it means the economy takes the first shot across the bow.

The willing media, all 92% of which are registered Democrats, and regularly supply aid and comfort to their party, were standing ready to reload after each shot was fired.

Meanwhile the Democrat leadership in Congress, gathered before cameras to cluck and shake their heads at how reckless the plan is.

First of all, reckless is when a president has unprotected sex in the oval office with a young intern while talking on the phone to a world leader.

Reckless is going on national TV and blaming the vast majority of Americans for your husband being reckless.

Reckless is NOT returning money or cutting taxes, for EVERY SINGLE hardworking, taxpayer in America.

Grasshopper, if a tax break is given to all American taxpayers, are those taxpayers all rich?

Well, according to the Democrats they are. Even a family of 4 making $40,000 that is paying, after all tax credits, independent deductions, etc., $1500 in taxes.

Under Bush’s plan, they will have that cut by $1100. A 96% tax reduction for middle income families. That is a huge amount of money for a family trying to make ends meet, yet the Democrats would have you believe they are greedy rich Republicans who don’t deserve to have any of their hard earned taxes returned to them.

Democrats might not know what “is” is, but Americans know what rich ISN’T.

Of course you have different levels of rich. You have rich (anyone getting a tax cut, no matter how small their income is), then you have very rich, then filthy rich, then obscenely rich.

Now, the obscenely rich Senator John Kerry, thinks the rich (family of four making $40,000) is greedy for wanting to get any money back.

The filthy rich, like Bill and Hillary Clinton, agree, although they know what it is to have a combined income of about $50,000, but forget their roots. What state was that again?

And then you have the very rich, which is basically every single member of the U.S. House of Representative and the U.S. Senate.

Now, we have to add to that another category of “rich” and that is the faux rich, which is basically comprised of small business owners who show their businesses making more than $350,000 . . . and are placed into that 1% wage earner category, even though this is not their personal income.

It is their business income, and the government, for tax purposes, does not make a distinction.

This in no way means they take home this much money, even after tax dollars.

Out of that they pay employees, overhead and then hopefully, bring some home for the family.

In spite of knowing this, they are castigated by the divisive Democrats who will do anything to regain control of the congress, even if that means the almost 100 million people who will get tax cuts under Bush’s plan have to be categorized as the greedy, selfish, despicable rich, while they are barely making ends meet in their family.

It just seems a little odd that a group of individuals, all making over $150,000 a year, plus paid staff, office, travel . . . hundreds of thousands of dollars of extra perks paid for by the hardworking American taxpayer, begrudge these same Americans a tax break.

They claim it would hurt the economy although statistics have shown after every tax cut we have seen in this country, the economy gets a boost. But the Democrats never let the facts get in the way. They are still referring to Reaganomics as a horrible thing for the country when interest rates went down from 18% to 8%, unemployment decreased from 12% to 4%, and inflation was drastically halted.

What they really mean is that, when the Republicans do something good for the economy, which they constantly try to in spite of the Democrats blocking these efforts, the Republicans get reelected.  This to them is a bad thing.

A good thing for them is when the economy suffers. This is what they want to continue to occur in America so they can point to any increase in unemployment or rise in interest rates as a fault of the Republicans.

What these rocket science millionaires don’t seem to understand is that if you decrease the tax rate for that 1% of business owners, who are hiring middle income Americans, they can afford to hire more workers, pay higher wages, invest in machinery and equipment to increase productivity, thus increase the amount of money coming into the treasury.

So here is a solution.

All those Democrats who don’t want a tax cut should be able to check a little box on their IRS form that says, no, I am far too wealthy now, and really don’t need the money, please give it to someone who can use it.

It must come as a huge surprise to a couple making $15,000 that they are rich. Terry Multi-Millionnaire-Let-Them-Eat-Cake McAulliffe thinks so. On the Democrat’s web site he rivaled Trent Lott’s racial innuendo by saying, “Instead of offering an immediate solution that will give aid to unemployed African Americans . . . Bush chose to reward the wealthiest Americans with a $674 billion tax cut. If Bush is truly serious about getting this economy back on track, he needs to implement fair, immediate, effective and real economic relief for African Americans and for all working Americans.”

I guess he was too busy loading his rhetoric rifle to hear about the employment assistance part of the proposal, or to realize every single taxpayer would get a benefit. But it seems that the Democrats, with hopes of continuing to divide the country along racial lines, will stoop to insinuating that all blacks in America are poor. That must come as a huge surprise to Oprah Winfrey, Venus and Serena Williams, Harry Belefonte, Walter Williams, Tiger Woods, Condelezza Rice, Colin Powell, Charlie Rengal, Armstrong Williams, Micheal Jordon . . . etc. etc., you get the picture.

Heh newsflash Terry, the race thing just doesn’t work any more when there are so many who have achieved above and beyond even the most modest dreams of most non-black Americans, and even attained a status as cult-heroes and heroines in many cases.

To insinuate that a tax rebate does nothing to help black families assumes there are no black families in the middle class, struggling to make ends meet, paying mortgages, college tuition, and who could really use a tax break that would put over $1000 back in their families pockets every year . . .starting now.

It also insinuates that there are no black-Americans who own small businesses that fall into that 1% category. America just isn’t buying the racial division and will not allow the Democrats to continue segregating the country with their disingenuous, political rhetoric.

Here is what I would suggest. Terry McAulliffe, Barbara Streisand, John Kerry, Hillary and Bill Clinton, and every other multimillionaire democrat, who feel this is not fair to the over 100 million people it will benefit, should voluntarily redistribute their own millions to all these people who they obviously care so much about. They care so much they want to continue robbing hard working Americans who are barely making ends meet . . . and this includes ALL races.

This can’t be that hard for middle America to figure out. When Bill Clinton came to office one of the first things he did was raise taxes and the Democrats in unison nodded approval because they have NEVER seen a tax increase they didn’t like.

The Republicans come to power BECAUSE they have always had tax cuts as foremost in their agendas for all Americans who pay taxes . . .which by the Democrat’s definition are “rich” people.

That is how they define “rich” . . .if you pay any taxes, no matter how little money you make . . .you are rich. You are certainly richer than the person receiving government handouts. You are certainly richer than the person on unemployment, or in school, or traveling between semesters, etc. You pay taxes, therefore you are rich.

But, one good thing has developed out of this whole tax cut debate. Finally the Democrats are embracing the 2nd Amendment and have decided to keep and bare arms . . .even if it means shooting holes in a tax plan that will help ALL Americans and stimulate a sagging economy.

Below are more specific details about the President’s Tax cut proposal, prepared and distributed by the Americans for Tax Reform and the Department of Treasury.

If you need more information, contact the Americans for Tax Reform at www.ATR.org.

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Taking Action to Strengthen America’s Economy
Today’s Presidential Action

President Bush today announced a growth and jobs plan to strengthen the American economy, and called on Congress to act swiftly to pass it.

* The President’s economic agenda has three main goals:
* Encourage consumer spending that will continue to boost the economic recovery.
* Promote investment by individuals and businesses that will lead to economic growth and job creation.
* Deliver critical help to unemployed citizens.

The President’s new proposal would:
* Speed up the 2001 tax cuts to increase the pace of the recovery and job creation.
* Encourage job-creating investment in America’s businesses by ending the double taxation of dividends and giving small businesses incentives to grow.
* Provide help for unemployed Americans, including extending unemployment benefits and creating new reemployment accounts to help displaced workers get back on the job.

Who benefits under the President’s plan?
* Everyone who pays taxes—especially middle-income Americans—as tax rate reductions passed by Congress in 2001 are made effective immediately. Middle-income families will receive additional relief from accelerated reduction of the marriage penalty, a faster increase in the child tax credit, and immediate implementation of the new, lower 10 percent tax bracket.
* Everyone who invests in the stock market and receives dividend income—especially seniors—will benefit from elimination of the double taxation on dividends. About half of all dividend income goes to America’s seniors, who often rely on those checks for a steady source of retirement income.
* Every small business owner who purchases equipment to grow and expand will get assistance through an increase in the expensing limits from $25,000 to $75,000.
* Every worker who has lost his or her job and qualifies for unemployment benefits will get more help, and many will qualify for new, more flexible Personal Re-employment Accounts, which provide a bonus if they find work quickly.

Under the President’s proposal to speed up tax relief, 92 million taxpayers would receive, on average, a tax cut of $1,083 in 2003.
* 46 million married couples would receive an average tax cut of $1,716.
* 34 million families with children would benefit from an average tax cut of $1,473.
* 6 million single women with children would receive an average tax cut of $541.
* 13 million elderly taxpayers would receive an average tax cut of $1,384.
* 23 million small business owners would receive tax cuts averaging $2,042.

Example:
A typical family of four with two earners making a combined $39,000 in income will receive a total of $1,100 in tax relief under the President’s plan.

According to a projection by the Council of Economic Advisers, the President’s plan will help the economy to create 2.1 million jobs over the next three years.

Making Progress: From Recession to Recovery

Since the beginning of his Administration, the President has acted decisively to promote economic growth and job creation.
* In 2001, he fulfilled his promise to reduce the tax burden on the American people. This tax relief gave the economy a boost at just the right time—ensuring that the recession was one of the shortest and shallowest in modern American history. These tax cuts worked, and the President will continue to press the Congress to make the cuts—including the end of the death tax—permanent.
* In 2002, he proposed and signed into law an economic stimulus bill, tough new corporate accountability standards, terrorism insurance legislation to put construction projects back on track, and an historic trade act. All these measures will help our economy as it recovers from the shocks of recession, the attacks of September 11th, and serious abuses of trust by some corporate officials.

Today, America’s economy is recovering and showing signs of growth.
* The country is now in its second year of economic growth.
* Nationwide, incomes are rising faster than inflation.
* Interest rates are the lowest in 37 years, and low interest rates have allowed Americans to refinance their
homes, adding more than $100 billion to their pocketbooks and to the economy.
* The homeownership rate—a central part of the American dream—is 68 percent, close to the highest ever.
* Productivity of American workers—the most important indicator of our economic strength—went up 5.6 percent over the last four measured quarters, the best since 1973.
* Our trade with other nations is expanding—bringing the lower prices that come from imports, and the better jobs that come from exports.
More to Do: The President’s Agenda to Strengthen America’s Economy

America has the strongest, most resilient economy in the world, yet this economy is not creating enough jobs. We have made great progress, but there is still more work to do.

The President today proposed a specific agenda to increase the momentum of our economic recovery.

The President’s proposal would:
Speed up Tax Relief to Speed up the Recovery: The President’s proposal builds on the success of the 2001 tax cut. As a result of this law, Americans are due to receive additional tax relief in 2004, and again in 2006. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have already enacted these cuts. The President believes the time to deliver this relief is now – when it can do the most good for families, businesses, and the economy – not years from now.

The President’s plan would:
* Make all the tax rate reductions from the 2001 tax law effective this year—and retroactive to January 1, 2003.
* Upon passage, the President will order the Treasury Department to immediately adjust the amount of money withheld for income taxes, so that Americans will keep more of their paychecks right away.
* For income earned after January 1, 2003, the following tax rates would be in effect:
10%
15%
25%
28%
33%
35%

The President’s plan would also bring middle-income families additional relief by speeding up three other tax reductions promised in 2001. It would:
* Reduce the marriage penalty this year, instead of waiting until 2009. An estimated 46 million married couples would benefit under the President’s plan.
* Raise the child tax credit from $600 to $1,000 per child this year, instead of in 2010. That would amount to a $400 increase per child, and checks would be issued in that amount this year to help parents across America. An estimated 34 million families with children would benefit under the President’s plan.
* Move several million working Americans into the lowest tax bracket of 10 percent now instead of waiting until 2008.
[Note: The plan will hold harmless any taxpayer that may be affected by the Alternative Minimum Tax].
Encourage Job-Creating Investment in America’s Economy – The President proposed two new steps to encourage individuals and businesses to invest in America’s economy.

End the double taxation of dividends
* Roughly 35 million American households receive dividend income that is taxable and will directly benefit under the President’s plan. More than half of these dividends go to America’s seniors, many of
whom rely on these checks for a steady source of income in their retirement.
* Yet seniors and other investors are not getting the full benefit of their investments because those investments are taxed twice. The IRS taxes a company on its profits, then it taxes the investors who
receive the profits as dividends. The result is that for every dollar of profit a company could pay out in dividends, as little as 40 cents can actually reach shareholders.
* In practice, double taxation of dividends means that even an investor of modest means is paying a higher tax rate on dividends than wealthy taxpayers pay on their income.
* It is fair to tax a company’s profits, and under the President’s plan, company profits will still be taxed – but only once. It is not fair to tax this income twice by taxing the shareholder on those same profits.
Double taxation is wrong—and it falls hardest on seniors.
* Almost half of all savings from the dividend exclusion under the President’s plan would go to taxpayers 65 and older. The average tax savings for the 9.8 million seniors receiving dividends would be $936.
* The President’s plan would eliminate the double taxation of dividends for millions of stockholders – allowing taxpayers to exclude dividend payments from their taxable income – and returning about $20 billion this year to the economy.
Increase incentives for small businesses to grow
* Small businesses create the majority of new jobs and account for half the output of the economy.
* Current tax laws permit them to write off as expenses up to $25,000 worth of equipment purchases.
The President’s plan would increase that limit to $75,000 and index it to inflation – encouraging them to
buy technology, machinery, and other equipment they need to expand.

Help Unemployed Americans Find Work –As we work to encourage long-term growth in the economy, we must not forget men and women struggling today. The President’s plan would help the unemployed on two fronts, providing both short-term benefits and long-term opportunity:
Extend unemployment benefits
* Close to 70,000 workers exhaust their unemployment benefits each week and need our help.
* The President’s plan calls on Congress to extend unemployment benefits that expired on December 28th and make them retroactive so people who lost benefits in December will receive them in full. The
President is calling upon Congress to make helping unemployed Americans a first order of business this year.

Create new Personal Re-employment Accounts
* The President’s plan would create Personal Re-employment Accounts, a new, innovative approach to help unemployed Americans find a job.
* These accounts would provide unemployed workers with up to $3,000 to use for job training, child care, transportation, moving costs, or other expenses associated with finding a new job. A person who gets a job within 13 weeks will be able to keep the leftover funds from their account as a re-employment bonus. This will help them when they are looking for work and give them an incentive to find work faster.
* President Bush proposes giving states $3.6 billion to fund these accounts. The program would be administered through the One Stop Career Center system and would work through existing state
unemployment systems to ensure speedy delivery of benefits.
* Under the President’s plan, these accounts would be available to at least 1.2 million Americans.
* Workers would receive these Personal Re-employment Accounts in addition to their regular unemployment benefits. Turning Recovery into Prosperity

The President’s jobs and growth package will provide $98 billion of total tax relief over the next 16 months and $670 billion over the next decade. It will spur real overall economic growth, yet it is disciplined and tailored to address specific challenges.

The American economy is strong, but it must be stronger. The President’s plan is a focused effort designed to remove the obstacles standing in the way of faster growth and greater progress.

President Bush will not be satisfied until every American who wants a job can find one; until every business has a chance to grow; and until we turn our economic recovery into lasting prosperity that reaches every corner of America.