Bush Campaigns To Make Tax Cuts Permanent
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — President Bush yesterday campaigned to make his tax cuts permanent, saying that allowing them to expire would be harmful to an already limp economy. The message was perhaps aimed more at voters than lawmakers.
The Democratic-led Congress has shown little interest in renewing most of the tax cuts, and Republicans are seeking to use the issue as political leverage in the upcoming presidential campaign. Democratic presidential candidates senators Obama and Clinton both have called for raising income taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Mr. Bush used the five-year anniversary of his signing of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, which lowered rates on capital gains and dividends, to make his case that Congress should extend his first-term tax cuts set to expire in 2010.
“The best way to deal with uncertainty is to let people keep more of their money,” Mr. Bush said following a round-table discussion at the White House complex by current and former administration economic advisers and businessmen.
