issues2000

More headlines: John McCain on Tax Reform

(Following are older quotations. Click here for main quotations.)


Tax cuts should go to middle- & lower-income people

Q: [to McCain]: You’ve said that 60% of Bush’s tax cut will go to the very wealthy. Are you are playing a class warfare game, pitting rich against poor?

McCAIN: I have never engaged in class warfare. [But] there’s a growing gap between the have’s and have-not’s in America and that gap is growing and it’s, unfortunately, divided up along ethnic lines. We ought to cut middle-income and lower-income taxes. But I’m not sure we need to give two-thirds of that tax cut [money] to the wealthiest 10% of America.

BUSH: I believe everybody ought to get a tax cut. I believe it’s important to cut the top rates. I think it’s important to drop the 39.6% [top tax rate] to 33%. I also know it’s important to make sure people who are on the outskirts of poverty get a tax cut as well. And my plan does both.

Source: (cross-ref from Bush) GOP Debate in Michigan Jan 10, 2000

Leaving money in Washington means President vetoes spending

McCAIN [to Bush]: For us to put all of the surplus into tax cuts. it’s a mistake. We should put that money into [making] sure their Social Security system will be there, that Medicare is helped and, most of all, let’s pay that $5.6 trillion debt we’ve laid on future generations.

BUSH: I have a plan that takes $2 trillion over the next 10 years & dedicates it to Social Security. My plan has been called risky by voices out of Washington. In my judgment what’s risky is to leave a lot of unspent money in Washington, because guess what’s going to happen. It’s going to be spent on bigger federal governments.

McCAIN: Your tax plan over the next five years not only spends all of the surplus, it spends $20 billion in addition to that. But this idea that somehow if the money is left. -- you don’t understand the role of the president. The president of the US will veto bills that spend too much. I’ll veto bills that force Congress to spend less. That’s what’s being president is all about.

Source: (cross-ref to Bush) GOP Debate in Michigan Jan 10, 2000

Large contributions distort tax system against taxpayers

When we just passed the last tax bill in Congress, it had tax breaks for the special interests, like a corporation in Delaware that turns chicken litter into energy. Those tax cuts would have taken place immediately, while the marriage penalty repeal, where young Americans are being penalized for getting married [would not]. The special interests rule in Washington - the big money, the huge 6- and 7-figure contributions that [result in] special loopholes and special deals for the special interests.
Source: Republican Debate at Dartmouth College Oct 29, 1999

Cut taxes by eliminating loopholes & corporate welfare

I will cut taxes, not for the special interests and the big-dollar donors, but for the working men and women of this country. I’ll pay for middle class tax relief by using the surplus funds not needed to save Social Security, and with the money saved by eliminating tax loopholes and corporate welfare that serve powerful special interests at your expense.
Source: Candidacy Declaration Speech, Nashua NH Sep 27, 1999

Tax code should favor savings, marriage, & small business

The tax code should not punish Americans for wanting to marry, save, or invest; and it should not force the sale of family farms or small businesses due to obscene inheritance taxes. McCain understands that America’s small businesses are the remarkable engines that drive our economy. And he will continue to lead the fight against the high taxes and government red tape that choke America’s small businesses, stifle innovation, and depress wages.
Source: www.mccain2000.com/ “Position Papers” 5/24/99 May 24, 1999

Expand the 15% tax bracket; close business loopholes

McCain knows that lower- and middle-class taxpayers are hardest hit by the current system. He is committed to trimming more of the fat from our bloated federal government and closing unnecessary and unfair tax loopholes for big businesses in order to provide this much-needed relief.
Source: www.mccain2000.com/ “Position Papers” 5/24/99 May 24, 1999

Use tax code to address unemployment & working conditions

Source: (x-ref to Welfare Reform) Project Vote Smart, 1998 Jul 2, 1998

More tax-deductible health costs; limits on malpractice

Source: 1998 National Political Awareness Test Jul 2, 1998

Decrease taxes across-the-board; maintain deductions

Source: 1998 National Political Awareness Test Jul 2, 1998

For flat tax; against nat’l sales tax & marriage penalty

Source: 1998 National Political Awareness Test Jul 2, 1998

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