Economic Growth

Extend the Bush Tax Cuts for Everyone

In a time when the economy is as horrible as it is now, one of the best ways to stimulate it is to give tax cuts to everyone. When you give rich people tax cuts, then they can hire poor people. When you cut taxes for the middle class, they have more money to go out and spend it to drive economic recovery and growth. If the Bush tax cuts are not extended, we will experience the largest tax increase in American history. This is certainly not the time when the American people can withstand the largest tax increase in American history. If Congress does not extend the Bush tax cuts, then this could result in weakening the economy so severely we may not experience true economic recovery until years from now. This is not the time to engage in class warfare. People need jobs!

People don’t want to have to depend on food stamps and unemployment checks—they need jobs! By extending the Bush tax cuts, Congress can give rich people, you know the people who actually provide the jobs, the ability to do more hiring and the ability to purchase essential things they need for their businesses, which further grows the economy. Congressional democrats are trying to play politics with the Bush tax cuts by saying that they want to first pass the middle class tax cuts, and then discuss the tax cuts for people making $250,000 and above a year. They know that Congressional republicans are not going to vote for a bill that is going to raise taxes on people making $250,000 or more. It sounds nice to be for cutting taxes for the middle class, but really what Congressional democrats are saying is they want to raise taxes on those making $250,000 or more a year. I want Congressional democrats to know that making $250,000 a year in many places in America does not qualify as being rich.

For those of you, and I am speaking to many of my friends too, who love to talk about the Bush tax cuts are mainly for the wealthiest people in America, I want you to know that they also pay the overwhelming majority of the taxes in America. If you cannot bring yourself to even begin to think about supporting a tax cut that would go to a wealthy person, then I want you to think about the last time somebody poor or just barely making it hired you. You should not have to think too long because a poor person or person barely making it never has hired you. Therefore, while it may sound good to say that you are not supporting the Bush tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, what you are really saying is you are not supporting economic growth and efforts to improve unemployment.

In these tough economic times, be willing to give up being an ideologue for the sake of ameliorating our economy and to help our hurting people to weather this turbulent economic tempest.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Give the American People Tax Cuts and Jobs

One of the best ways for President Obama to immediately stimulate the economy is to provide the American people with a payroll tax holiday. By relieving the American people of having to pay any payroll taxes for one year, this would be a real savings for them that they could begin to enjoy immediately.  If you would think about it for a minute, would you not enjoy bringing home closer to what your gross income is? With a payroll tax holiday for one year, this would give you the opportunity to enjoy more of your hard earned money.

Now, I’m not suggesting that a payroll tax holiday is the panacea to America’s economic woes, but I do know that this would help the majority of the American people to experience positive economic growth. I am also not suggesting that all we need to get our economy moving is simply more and more tax cuts, but tax cuts have to be a dimension of any serious effort to aid the economy in recovering. President Obama needs to extend the Bush tax cuts and don’t let them expire. If President Obama lets the Bush tax cuts expire, this would impose one of the largest tax cuts on the American people in American history.

In a struggling economy, the worst thing that anyone can do right now is raise taxes on the American people. If the Bush tax cuts are not extended, the economy could sink so deeply that it may take even more years for the economy to recover. I am afraid that without extending the Bush tax cuts that many small businesses will be forced to lay off many workers and/or close down. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. We don’t need to do anything that would harm our small businesses.

We need our local, state, and federal leaders talking about and passing pro-growth legislation that will help to significantly ameliorate our economy. They need to be talking about serious policies to help create more jobs for the American people. It is time out for all of this partisanship—people need jobs! We need to put the American people back to work. I don’t care if you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent—I will vote for you if you are going to help to create jobs and reduce the tax burden on the American people.

If any politician is not talking about reducing your taxes and creating jobs, then be sure to vote him or her out. Tell your elected officials to support a payroll tax holiday for one year and to support pro-growth policies and legislation.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison