Taxes
This year, Congress approved a federal budget with a $685 billion deficit and last year approved a budget with a $450 billion deficit. According to the non-partisan Citizens Against Government Waste, Congress rammed 11,160 earmarks totaling $17.2 billion into spending bills for the 2008 fiscal year. We spend on programs we don’t need; and spend inefficiently on those we do need. My opponent, on the other hand, proposes expanding government on your dime. He advocates a new federal department of peace. Government programs bloat while taxpayers work ever longer and harder.
For example, according to the Heritage Foundation, out of the $25,117 the US Government redistributes, on average, per household, $455 goes to Mass Transit/Highways. However it is a grossly inefficient transfer: The dollars flow to Washington, flow back to the states minus administrative costs and with loads of strings attached. Local control and local decision-making are side-stepped . A more common sense approach is for the state to collect the taxes and decide, locally, how to spend it on buses, roads and rails.
This Congress led by the opposition has witnessed unprecedented hikes in fuel an food prices: has refused to take action on Social Security; nor has it constructed a coherent energy policy. Yet Democrat Congressional aspirants threaten to reward this governmental dysfunction by hiking taxes. We need a different approach: a common sense approach.
In 2001 and 2003, Congress signed tax cuts which lowered income tax rates, stimulated the economy, aided job creation and increased personal and business investments. These are set to expire if Congress allows. The Death Tax rate, capital gains rate, rate on dividends -- all expire. It is unlikely that a congress led by the opposition will approve $1000 tax credit per child, marriage penalty relief and tax rate cuts. Americans will face alarmingly higher taxes at a time when we are also facing high fuel and food prices.
We need to make these tax cuts permanent.