CSE Pens Letter to President and Congressional Leadership

With over twenty coalition members this letter was sent on September 21.

The President

The White House

Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President,

We, the undersigned, believe that quick and decisive action is needed to rebuild the nation’s capital stock and restore economic growth. The economic slowdown that began in the middle of last year was perilously close to becoming a recession. But, because of what happened on September 11, what was a cause for concern is now a threat to national security.

The terrorist attacks destroyed a significant amount of wealth and damaged the short-term capability of key sectors of America’s economy. Recovering from these despicable assaults will be a tremendous ordeal, but dealing with this challenge is only part of the problem. Equally important is the need to restore the economy’s overall performance. If America is to successfully wage war on terrorism, we will need the resources that only can be generated by an economy firing on all cylinders.

This means substantial tax reform and significant tax rate reductions. We believe the core elements of an Economic Rebuilding and Recovery Package are:

A shift toward “expensing” of business investment. It is counterproductive not to allow companies to fully deduct the expense of investments in new factories, machines, structures, and technology. Replacing the current “depreciation” rules with immediate expensing – or at least a significant shift in that direction as contemplated in the High-Productivity Investment Act introduced in the US House of Representatives – will boost capital formation and help rebuild the wealth destroyed by terrorists.

Accelerated implementation of the income tax rate reductions. The tax rate reductions enacted earlier this year constitute sound long-term tax policy, but many of the pro-growth elements do not take effect until 2004, 2006, and 2010. This means the additional growth will not take effect until that time. The rate reductions, IRA expansions, and death tax repeal should be made effective as of September 11, 2001.

Capital gains tax rate reduction. The capital gains tax is a form of double-taxation that penalizes risk-taking and entrepreneurship. This tax should not exist, and it certainly imposes significant economic damage in today’s uncertain environment. A large – and permanent – reduction in the capital gains tax will stimulate new investment and more productive use of capital.

We look forward to working with you to rebuild America and restore economic growth. Thank you for your attention to this critical issue.

Sincerely,

Paul Beckner, President, Citizens for a Sound Economy

John Berthoud, President, National Taxpayers Union

David Burton, Senior Fellow, Prosperity Institute

Steve Entin, President and Executive Director, Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation

Robert Funk, Executive Director, American Shareholders Alliance

James Gattuso, Vice-President for Policy, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Tom Giovanetti, President, Institute for Policy Innovation

Lawrence Hunter, Chief Economist, Empower America

Charles W. Jarvis, Chairman and CEO, United Seniors Association

Dave Keene, Chairman, American Conservative Union

Karen Kerrigan, Chairman, Small Business Survival Committee

Jim Martin, President, 60 Plus Association

Dan Mitchell, McKenna Senior Fellow in Political Economy, Heritage Foundation

Steve Moore, President, Club for Growth

Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform

Duane Parde, Executive Director, American Legislative Exchange Council

Andrew F. Quinlan, President and CEO, Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Richard Rahn, Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute

Gary Robbins, President, Fiscal Associates

Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Economic Policy

Terrence Scanlon, President, Capitol Research Center

Tom Schatz, President, Citizens Against Government Waste

Lew Uhler, President, National Tax Limitation Committee

* Organizational affiliations are included for identification purposes only.

Identical letters were sent to the following: Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, and Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott.