Sunday, October 12, 2008

Money & Business

Capital Commerce

Giuliani's Shock-and-Awe Tax Plan

January 10, 2008 11:11 AM ET | James Pethokoukis | Permanent Link | Print

My pal and blogger Andy Roth over at the Club for Growth just sent me this E-mail with a few more details and a sprinkling of analysis about Rudy Giuliani's $6 trillion tax plan, which would be the largest tax cut in the history of the American republic. Actually, of any republic—ours, Rome's, Greece's. Just huge:

$6.3 trillion over 10 years.

Make permanent the Bush tax cuts NOW...not in 2010

Permanently index AMT and then eliminate it when practical (no timetable).

Get rid of the Death Tax

Lower cap gains and dividend rate to 10% and index to inflation.

Lower corp rate from 35% to 25%.

Trio of tax free savings accounts—Roth style—available to ALL income classes.

  • Retirement account ($5000 year/single, $10k year/couple, draw only at retirement)
  • General account (same limits, available at any time for any reason)
  • Lifetime skills account (only for education, job training, $1000 year/single)

Tax simplification strategy—one page tax return

Three rates—10% (40k), 15% (150k), and 30% (150k+).

It's an optional tax plan. You can pick it or the current tax code. Unlike [the Fred] Thompson plan, you can opt in and out any year. Four major deductions remain:

  • Mortgage
  • Charitable
  • State and Local taxes
  • Child tax credit

This plan would be huge. It would be 4% of GDP. By comparison, [the George W. Bush] tax cut was 1.3% of GDP. Reagan's was 1.9% of GDP.

Tags: presidential election 2008 | taxes | Rudolph Giuliani

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Reader Comments

More republican robber-baron horseshit

Wow, yet another republican tax scheme meant to provide a windfall to the rich.

*sigh*

Down with Giuliani.

US Debt 9,000,000,000,000

Promise anything to get elected. Oh, and by the way, these tax cuts will pay for themselves. what a joke.

Good plan, but....

Love it! What services will he eliminate?

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About the Capital Commerce Blog

Send an E-mail to capcom@usnews.com.

James Pethokoukis is the money and politics blogger for U.S. News & World Report , where he writes the monthly Capital Commerce magazine column. Pethokoukis is also the assistant managing editor of the magazine's Money & Business section. He has written for many publications including the New York Times, the American, USA Today, Investor's Business Daily, and TCS Daily. Pethokoukis is also an official CNBC contributor and appears frequently on that network's Kudlow & Company, Power Lunch, and The Call shows. In addition, he has appeared numerous times on MSNBC, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, CNN, and Nightly Business Report on PBS. A 1989 graduate of Northwestern University where he double majored in Soviet politics and American history and a 1991 graduate of the Medill School of Journalism, Pethokoukis is a 2002 Jeopardy! champion.

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