The Bush-Cheney campaign has rolled out a new campaign ad attacking John Kerry’s positions on taxes. The ad says Kerry voted for higher taxes on the middle class 98 times – increases in the gas tax and on Social Security benefits are the two most telling points.
While hard-hitting, the ad is no big surprise to those who have followed the Massachusetts senator’s career. Cut from the liberal cloth, Kerry has been has been nothing if not consistent. He’s favored more taxes in order to fund more government programs. He’s also wanted to use the tax code to push people to “do the right thing.”
The gas tax is a good example. In 1994, Kerry was complaining that his rating on fiscal matters was too low because “It doesn’t reflect my $43 billion package of cuts or my support for a 50-cent increase in the gas tax.” So reported the Boston Globe.
Today, however, Kerry says he would push to make permanent the Bush tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, except for those whose income tops $200,000.
He says he’s in favor of middle class tax cuts, and he’s proposed targeted tax cuts for health care, higher education and child care. But his status as a tax-cutter is still suspect – for two reasons. In calling for tax hikes on earners of $200,000 or more, he’s really targeting the middle class.
Why? Because of S Corporations. These allow small business owners to incorporate, pay themselves a salary and avoid the double taxation on corporate net income and capital gains.
Analysts estimate that nearly two-thirds of the nation’s 3 million S corporations would be hit with higher taxes under Kerry’s proposal. These are the retail businesses, the real estate offices, the wholesalers, the fuel of the American commercial engine.
Some of Kerry’s other tax proposals may help the middle class, but the tax hike on “the rich” would be anything but.