Make the Tax Cuts Permanent and Fully Effective Now

The Senate’s failure to make last year’s tax rate cuts permanent and fully effective now is hurting America’s workers and families, the economy, and the stock market. Government should not act like a business and try to bring in as much money as possible: It should take from people only as much money as it needs to fund truly essential functions in the most efficient (that is, economically least destructive) way possible. Policymakers should move away from the flawed goal of maximizing government tax revenue and toward the correct goal of maximizing economic growth by limiting the size of government and lowering tax rates on working, saving, investing, and developing a business. The President should demand that Congress make the entire 2001 tax cut package, particularly the rate cuts and death tax repeal, permanent and fully effective immediately. Such a policy would remove unnecessary and economically damaging uncertainty about tax rates and instantly improve incentives and lower government barriers to working, saving, investing, or developing a business. Workers, families, the economy, and the stock market would all benefit from this prudent policy.

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