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George W. Bush on Corporations
President of the United States, Former Republican Governor (TX)
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Reward, not punish, the efforts and dreams of entrepreneurs
To make our economy stronger and more competitive, America must reward, not punish, the efforts and dreams of entrepreneurs. Small business is the path of advancement, especially for women and minorities. So we must free small businesses
from needless regulation and protection honest job creators from junk lawsuits. Justice is distorted and our economy is held back by irresponsible class actions and frivolous asbestos claims, and I urge Congress to pass legal reforms this year.
Source: 2005 State of the Union Speech
Feb 2, 2005
FactCheck: Bush indeed is half-owner of timber company
KERRY: The president got $84 from a timber company that [he half] owns, and he's counted as a small business. BUSH: I own a timber company? That's news to me. Need some wood?
FACT CHECK: In fact, according to his 2003 financial disclosure form, Bush
does own part interest in "LSTF, LLC", a limited-liability company organized "for the purpose of the production of trees for commercial sales." So Bush was wrong to suggest that he doesn't have ownership of a timber company. And Kerry was correct in
saying that Bush's definition of "small business" is so broad that Bush himself would have qualified as a "small business" in 2001 by virtue of the $84 in business income. We should clarify: the $84 in Schedule C income was from Bush's Lone Star Trust,
which is described on the 2001 income-tax returns as an oil and gas production business. The Lone Star Trust now owns 50% of the tree-growing company, but didn't get into that business until two years after the $84 in question.
Source: Analysis of second Bush-Kerry debate by FactCheck.org
Oct 10, 2004
FactCheck: Kerry plan affects 471,000 companies, not 900,000
FACT CHECK: Bush once again claimed 900,000 "small businesses" would see a tax increase under Kerry's proposal to raise taxes only on persons making over $200,000 a year. As we showed earlier , that's an inflated number.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center calculates that 471,000 small employers would see an increase in taxes.
Source: Analysis of second Bush-Kerry debate by FactCheck.org
Oct 10, 2004
Kerry will tax small businesses
BUSH: Kerry says he's only going to tax the rich. Do you realize, 900,000 small businesses will be taxed under his plan because most small businesses are Subchapter S corps or limited partnerships, and they pay tax at the individual income tax level.
And so when you're running up the taxes like that, you're taxing job creators, and that's not how you keep jobs here.KERRY: That's just not true. The Wall Street Journal said 96% of small businesses are not affected at all by my plan. And you know why
he gets that count? The president got $84 from a timber company that[he partly] owns, and he's counted as a small business. Dick Cheney's counted as a small business. That's how they do things. That's just not right.
BUSH: I own a timber company?
That's news to me. Need some wood? Most small businesses are Subchapter S corps. 70% of the new jobs in America are created by small businesses. Taxes are going up when you run up the top two brackets. It's a fact.
Source: Second Bush-Kerry debate, St. Louis, MO
Oct 8, 2004
Enron news hit White House like a death in the family
In December 2001, the Enron Corporation, the world's largest energy trader, confessed that it had been guilty of the biggest fraud in American history and was about to go bankrupt. The Enron news hit White House like a death in the family.
Enron had been to Texas what Microsoft was to Washington State: the leader of the local new Economy, a focus of hometown pride. The tone of much of the reporting on Enron insinuated that the Bush team was somehow complicit in the Enron debacle or,
at any rate, had benefited from Enron's fraud. Enron was often described as Bush's "biggest supporter." This was crazy. Different sources add up the money in different ways, but if you total every dollar that Enron, its affiliates,
and its executives and their families gave to Bush's two gubernatorial campaigns, his run for president, the recount fight, the Republican convention in 2000, and the Bush inaugural in 2001, you would arrive at a figure of at most $1 million.
Source: The Right Man, by David Frum, p.220
Jun 1, 2003
Enron donated $1M to GOP & advised Bush on energy plan
What is the Enron saga about? Enron’s bankruptcy, the largest in history, exposes the decay of corporate accountability in the new Gilded Age. Enron transformed itself from a gas pipeline company to an unregulated financial investment house willing and
able to buy and sell anything--energy futures, weather changes, bandwidth, state legislatures, regulators, senators, even Presidents. Ken Lay and Enron were Bush’s leading supporters, contributing $113,800 directly to his campaign and another $888,265
to the Republican National Committee, an arm of the campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Bush repaid Lay and other “Pioneers”--those who raised $100,000 or more for his campaign--with his shameful tax plan.
He continues to push for a stimulus plan that benefits corporations over workers. He is pressing Congress to pass the Enron energy plan, which features massive subsidies to energy companies and further deregulation.
Source: The Nation, Editorial, “Enron Conservatives,” p. 4-5
Feb 4, 2002
Federal government should stay out of the marketplace
I was deeply concerned about the drift toward a more powerful federal government. I was particularly outraged by two pieces of legislation, the Natural Gas Policy Act and the Fuel Use Act. It seemed to me that elite central planners were
determining the course of our nation. Allowing the government to dictate the price of natural gas was a move toward European-style socialism. If the federal government was going to take over the natural gas business, what would it set its sights on next?
Source: “A Charge to Keep”, p.172-173
Dec 9, 1999
Stop hurting business with excessive punitive damage awards
Punitive damages have nothing to do with a victim’s actual damages. They are intended to punish a defendant for extraordinarily negligent or malicious behavior. But too often, that was not how they were being used; they were being used to terrorize
small-business owners and force higher and higher out-of-court settlements. Punitive damages of tens of millions of dollars became all too common, even when the dispute involved actual damages that were much smaller.
Source: “A Charge to Keep”, p.117
Dec 9, 1999
More job training; R&D tax credits
Gov. Bush supports the following principles concerning the economy and employment. Reduce state government regulations on the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansionIncrease funding for state job-training programs
that re-train displaced workers or teach skills needed in today’s job market.Bush notes that he “proposed tax credits for companies to invest in research and development and a franchise tax cut for small business.”
Source: Vote Smart NPAT 1998
Jul 2, 1998