Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (37286)	7/23/2004 6:04:50 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

more BW... a great article!!! Kerry's Battle Plan KERRYCARE The Democrat's top priority is a plan to expand health coverage while driving down premiums -- not an easy feat. Kerry would extend government insurance for children and low-income workers. Small businesses that can't currently afford care could join a national pool to cover their employees. For all employers, the feds would take over the cost of catastrophic illness. Finally, Doc Kerry would use new technology to slash overhead and waste. Some conservative economists applaud Kerry's decision to build on the employer-based system. But they fear that the government, in a giant shuffle, would be taking on a huge commitment without doing much to control costs. KERRYKIDS Kerry wants to spend $200 billion over 10 years to bolster public schools, hike teacher salaries, and offer tuition help for families. His College Opportunity Tax Credit provides a $2,500-a-year break to help pay for college. He vows to spend $100 billion to fully fund Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, a law that mandated tough standards but, critics charge, didn't provide enough cash. "Kerry's higher-education platform is critical," declares Chris Gabrieli, a Massachusetts venture capitalist. "For the first time, we are seeing a widening [income] gap on college accessibility." But Kerry's education plans are under fire from both the Right and the Left. Republicans suspect that, in exchange for grassroots support, he will reward teachers' unions by watering down standards. "We need to stay the course on accountability," says Susan Traiman, an education expert at the Business Roundtable. "Resources alone won't fix schools." Others worry that Kerry shortchanges preschool programs and aid for poor children. "Middle-class programs are obviously more popular politically," notes Isabel V. Sawhill, a Brookings Institution economist. "But if kids fall behind early, they'll never catch up." JOBS As the first U.S. leader since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net job loss during his term, Bush is vulnerable to charges that his policies have hurt working Americans. To spur job creation, Kerry proposes a tax credit for new hiring by manufacturers, small business, and companies affected by outsourcing. And he would end capital-gains taxes for investments held for five years or longer by some small businesses. But the record of targeted tax incentives is spotty. In practice, most of the cash ends up subsidizing jobs that would have been created anyway. Kerry is also trying to slow the export of U.S. jobs to low-wage countries. He would end favored tax treatment of profits earned overseas by U.S. multinationals in an effort to encourage more outfits to locate in the U.S. That may sound unrealistic in a global economy, but Kerry offers two goodies to tilt the table. To entice companies to bring home profits earned abroad, he dangles a one-time reduced 5% tax on repatriated earnings. And he promises to cut the top tax rate for all corporations from the current 35% to 33.5%. Kerry presided over a hot internal debate over this issue. More liberal aides eyeing funds for social programs objected to a business tax cut, but Kerry felt it was a smart symbolic move. "When was the last time a Democrat proposed cutting corporate taxes?" says top Kerry strategist Bob Shrum. "People like Ted Kennedy were saying: 'John, what are you doing?"' If the gambit was supposed to please business, it flopped. Groups such the National Association of Manufacturers blast Kerry for hurting multinationals that already face stiff competition. "Kerry's proposal on foreign-source profits is upside down," says Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. "It rewards high-cost companies." Adds Jon A. Boscia, CEO of Lincoln Financial Group in Philadelphia: "We have to walk a fine line between protecting jobs and impeding capital flows." yahoo.businessweek.com