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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cosmicforce who wrote (3320)	10/21/2000 1:52:40 AM
From: fuzzymath	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10042

The markets have been ridiculously high -- but this year has reduced that somewhat. One fact that is not often mentioned in calculations of future budget surpluses is the taxation on capital gains, which during most of the Clinton years (especially 1995-1998) produced an enormous amount of "unexpected" income, as investors sold stocks at great profits and bought into new companies. The taxes on these massive capital gains are part of the reason projected tax receipts are so high into the future. A few years ago one of the respected study groups (Brookings Institute?) said the entire budget surplus for that year (1997?) could be accounted for by the unexpectedly high capital gains tax receipts. But, obviously, the markets won't be generating much capital gains tax income for the government this year. It will be very interesting to see how the projected budget surplus numbers change after everyone fills out their tax forms next year. Kevin/fuzzymath