While Bush Lies About Saddam-Al Qaida and a lot more, Kerry works hard to actually help Americans. Notice this is actually a tax DECREASE on average families, making the Bush TV ads even bigger lies than they were before.
Kerry would increase child care tax credit
By Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writer | June 16, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry wants to give parents more money to help cover child care costs, to the tune of $20 billion over 10 years.
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Kerry says he will, if elected, raise the child and dependent care tax credit to cover up to $5,000 in expenses, up from the current $3,000 maximum. And he would extend the benefit to some parents who currently are not eligible, including stay-at-home parents and some lower-income families who cannot get the nonrefundable credit because they do not owe any tax.
Kerry also said he would create a federal program that would pay to keep schools open until 6 p.m. to help working parents.
"All across this country there are families who would like to enroll their kids in after school and child care programs, but they can't because budgets are tight," Kerry said in a statement issued Wednesday.
Kerry was announcing the increase in the credit during a campaign stop in Ohio on Wednesday before heading back to Washington for private meetings. Kerry's campaign was coy about whom the Massachusetts senator would see during four hours in his Capitol office, but several possible vice presidential candidates will be close by if he decides to hold any interviews.
"He's meeting with colleagues," was all Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter would say.
Kerry has just six weeks until the Democratic National Convention, where he and his running mate are to be nominated for the ticket. But he remains tightlipped about his choice.
Possible selections from Capitol Hill include Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina, Bob Graham of Florida and Evan Bayh of Indiana. Govs. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, also mentioned as possible picks, will also be in Washington with several other governors to talk about problems of the uninsured.
Kerry's campaign said that under his child care tax credit plan, a couple earning $60,000 and spending $10,000 on child care for two children would get an additional $800 cut.
The credit is available for child care expenses for children up to age 13, as well as for care for dependents with disabilities. Parents currently can get a credit for up to 35 percent of their first $3,000 in expenses for one child or $6,000 in expenses for two or more children. The percentage of expenses that can be credited decreases with higher incomes, so middle-class families typically can claim 20 percent.
Kerry said he would pay for the expanded credit by closing certain corporate tax loopholes, raising $20 billion over 10 years. Kerry policy adviser Robert Gordon said about $8 billion would be spent on raising the limit to $5,000; details of how the rest of the money would be distributed among stay-at-home parents and lower-income families would be determined later.
Kerry pledged to increase federal support for after-school programs from its present level of $1 billion to $2.5 billion in 2007, paid for with money raised from repealing Bush's tax cuts for Americans making more than $200,000 per year. Kerry's campaign said his after-school plan would serve 3.5 million children, an increase of more than 2 million children from the level today.
The Bush campaign said Kerry voted against Bush's tax-cut package, which included a $1,000-per-child tax credit. Kerry has said he wants to keep the child tax credit while rolling back other tax cuts.
"John Kerry has a history of voting to raise taxes on middle-income parents and giving parents less money to spend on child care," Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said.
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