"Bush Tax-cut Plan Will Benefit Everyone"
The Star, March 1, 2001
By Terry Paulson, PhD

After hearing President Bush and the Democratic response, I join in calling for our republican and responsible democratic leaders to stand firm in returning the overcharge to all those who paid the bill. As Bush said, "The surplus is not the government's money. It's the people's money."

Bush made his case well and had the wisdom to point out that the Kennedy and Reagan across-the-board tax relief plans generated both economic growth and increased federal revenue. But there is more to say. Let me give you my checklist of my top ten points to sell my neighbors on your tax plan.

1. First and foremost, there's a reason across-the-board cuts favor the rich. The rich pay more taxes. The top 5 percent (income over $108,000) pay 52 percent of all federal income taxes. If anyone wants the tax relief of the rich, pay their taxes and you too can get their tax cut.

2. Most would find it morally wrong to support the Marxist tenet—"From each according to his ability, to each according to their need." But few citizens or media pundits were morally outraged that the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act required that the top 6% of Americans paid 100% of the retroactive income tax increase. The Democratic thank you note to those Americans who paid most of the bill for the present Washington surplus reads—"Thanks Chump! You keep paying the bill, but our constituents deserve all the change!"

3. People aren't poor because others are rich. The rich don't take from the poor. On the contrary, the investment and capitalistic actions of the nation's achievers increase the size of the economic pie. They create wealth and jobs. They pay the vast majority of taxes and the bills that drive market demand and economic growth. They make most of the charitable donations. They raise everyone's standard of living by paying a premium for new inventions that eventually become available at a lower price to the rest of Americans. Let those rich Americans invest their refunds to do more of the same.

4. The gap between the rich and the poor is not the problem. As the economy expands, the standard of living of the poor also increases. Many of the "poor" of today have cars, TVs, phones—luxuries the poor of the past would not have dreamed of. The standard of living for the poor increases at a slower rate than that of the rich. But if it goes up because of the economic growth generated by the achievers, the rich ought to be seen as heroes instead of the problem. The charity of the poor ought to be to wish the rich well instead of envying their refunds.

5. The democrats suggest that the "greedy rich" will get enough tax relief to buy a Lexus from their share of a 6% tax cut, but that means the "greedy government" is still keeping the better end of the deal! With what the 33% they keep, the government could buy over five Lexus automobiles.

6. Leaving money in Washington is like putting a honey pot in a forest filled with bears. No lockbox can work, because Congress has the key and has shown through the years that they won't leave any lockbox locked. With the surplus growing last year, Congress, with Clinton's support, increased federal spending by 8%. Bush will hold the line at 4%.

7. As a percentage of GDP, the Bush plan is only half the size of John F. Kennedy's across-the-board rate reduction and one-third the size of Ronald Reagan's tax cut. Both tax cuts did not cost the government revenue. On the contrary, both tax cuts stimulated economic growth that increased federal revenue. With a Republican President and Congress pointing the way to more restraint in government spending, there should be a bigger government surplus instead of a lower one.

8. Everyone who pays taxes deserves tax relief. America should not pit one American against another. A parasitic majority should never be free to tax any minority, no matter how wealthy, and expect the American Dream to continue. Bush's plan eliminates income tax for more poor Americans and saves the greatest percentage decreases for those making less money. All Americans who pay the bills deserve relief.

9. Most Americans would never dream of seizing money or property from their neighbors but seem to see nothing wrong in electing leaders who seem to have no trouble doing that for them.

10. To fail to provide tax relief to all Americans who pay income taxes will usher in the true "Decade of Greed." It will signal that class warfare is now legitimized and institutionalized in the tax code. It will be saying that it is OK for the majority of Americans to force wealthy achievers to pay their share of the bill along with their own. That is not the America I know.

Bush has indeed created an agenda worthy of a great nation. It's time we support his agenda and his tax relief plan. Let's just make sure we return a refund for all those who have paid the bills.