Chico faults Bush's tax reform proposal - Mundo Latino: news events

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, Feb-March, 2003

In response to President Bush's tax reform proposal presented at the Economic Club of Chicago on January 7, 2003. Gery Chico, who is seeking the 2004 Democratic nomination in Illinois for the US Senate seat currently held by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. said the President should go back to the drawing board and develop a plan that helps every American. Chico, reportedly the only Hispanic running for the US Senate, said, "President Bush has shown us again that his priority is helping the rich get richer while the working class and the poor bear the brunt of his economic policies." Chico amplified. "And given the current deficit run by the federal government, his policies are not just wrong, they are irresponsible."

Bush's proposal, calling for the elimination of faxes on stock dividends, an acceleration of income lax cuts, a child care rebate program, and a one-time aid grant to states, is expected to cost more than $670 billion over the next 10 years. Approximately half of the total cost--$300 billion--will come from the elimination of taxes on stock dividends. According to the Tax Policy Center, eliminating the stock dividend tax entirely would save a family earning over $1 million annually an estimated $48,000 or 4.8 percent of its income. These tax cuts would reportedly push the deficit over $200 billion in 2003, with their full weight impacting the 2004 and 2005 fiscal years. Chico also noted that war with Iraq would only increase the budget deficit. To counter Bush's proposal, Chico made three recommendations to jump-start the economy: the implementation of a limited payroll tax holiday to help both employers and employees; increased higher education tax credits for poor and working class families to supplement federal and state financial aid packages" and increased government investment in infrastructure maintenance and development, such as schools and transportation structures to make billions of dollars potentially available and aid local economies.

"Trickle Down Economics, Supply-Side Economics. Private Revenue Growth, whatever you chose to call it, does not work, We tried that in the 1980s, and it took an entire decade to pay off the resulting deficit," claimed Chico.