JOHN KERRY Fiscal Policy, Economy, Labor and Agriculture
Kerry pledges up, down and sideways that he will not raise taxes on the middle class; Instead he wants new tax credits to help with college and health care costs. To pay for them, Kerry plans to roll back Bush's tax cuts for wealthy Americans — those making over $200,000 a year — and close $65 billion in corporate tax loopholes. He'll get the economy moving again with new homeland security and transportation projects — $50 billion for state governments to create jobs. He'll try to decrease job outsourcing by ending tax provisions that help companies move jobs overseas. In return, he'll lower corporate income taxes. He voted for NAFTA but now says tougher labor and environmental standards are needed in trade agreements and wants a 120-day review of all trade pacts. He plans to cut the deficit in half within four years by reinstating pay-as-you-go rules, which force Congress to offset the costs of any spending increases or tax cuts with spending cuts or tax increases from other parts of the budget, and by asking for a constitutional form of line-item veto which would allow him to send budget pork provisions back to Congress for an up-or-down vote. He wants to trim subsidies for farm corporations.
