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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (9741)	3/23/2004 3:58:26 PM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 81568

John Kerry's 19-Year Record on Investor Issues 3/23/2004 1:33:00 PM WASHINGTON, March 23 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Two out of three voters in the 2004 elections will be investors, making the investor voter the most powerful voting bloc in America. American Shareholders Association (ASA) today released the organization's first study on investor issues for the 2004 elections. The study examines the Democratic Party's nominee for President, Sen. John Kerry's (D-Mass.) record on investor related issues during his nineteen years as a U.S. Senator. The result of the study finds Kerry consistently opposed investors during his tenure as U.S. Senator, with consistent opposition to capital gains tax reduction and Individual Retirement Accounts. "The best way to sum up Kerry's record on investor issues -- all talk and no action," said Daniel Clifton, executive director of ASA. "Despite his pro-investor rhetoric, not once has Kerry voted to reduce the capital gains tax, not once has Kerry voted to index capital gains to inflation, and not once has Kerry voted to abolish the double tax on dividends. Even more disturbing has been his consistent opposition to Individual Retirement Accounts, which currently provides retirement savings for millions of American families. His votes against shareholders have real consequences and this report documents the effects of these votes." Kerry has been claiming he has voted to reduce the capital gains tax. However, the analysis could not find one example of Kerry voting to reduce the capital gains tax. He voted to increase the capital gains tax by 40 percent in 1986 and voted against reducing the capital gains tax at least 15 times since 1989. Kerry called for abolishing the double tax of dividends in a speech on December 2, 2002, but as soon as President Bush proposed the same initiative one month later, Kerry quickly denounced the proposal and voted against it seven times. The legislation passed, however, and companies are now returning more cash to shareholders, earnings are more transparent, and shareholders have been re-empowered in the companies they invest. Sen. Kerry voted to remove the tax deduction for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) in 1986 for families with incomes over $40,000 per year. He then voted against IRA expansion at least 10 times since then. "It is fairly accurate to say that Sen. Kerry has not received the memo on the growing electoral strength of the investor class," concluded Clifton. "Based on his voting record, it appears that Kerry believes the only people who own shares of stock are families named Heinz and Kennedy. That may have been true while Kerry was raising the capital gains tax as part of the Dukakis Administration, but it sure is not true today, with 56 percent of families' financial assets held in stocks and mutual funds." The report can be accessed at: americanshareholders.com ------ The American Shareholders Association is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to analyzing legislation affecting shareholders. To educate U.S. investors, ASA reports the public positions of elected representatives on these issues to its members. usnewswire.com releases.usnewswire.com