As the old adage goes, "the two certain things in life are death and taxes." And this election year, candidates are talking a lot about taxes -- income taxes, capital gains taxes, marriage taxes, and, yes, even the death tax.
This is the first in a series of Friday articles detailing the candidates' positions on major issues facing the nation and the world as the country prepares to elect a new leader on Nov. 7.
George W. Bush " Republican
George Bush has the philosophy that "the [budget] surplus is not the government's money -- the surplus is the people's money," and is making this idea a major feature of his campaign.
His tax plan involves a reform of the current system with a reduction in the rates at every tax bracket, with new rates ranging from 10 to 33 percent.
Families would benefit from Bush's proposal to double the per-child tax credit to $1,000 and eliminate the estate tax by 2009.
For companies, Bush supports making the research and development tax credit, currently scheduled to expire in 2004, permanent.
Any increase in income taxes would be vetoed and the moratorium on Internet taxation would be extended until at least 2004 under Bush's plan.
He also supports a reduction in the so-called marriage penalty, a tax quirk in which married couples sometimes pay more than two singles with the same income.
This plan, he says, provides the greatest relief to the people that already pay the most taxes. In addition, lower-income families would benefit from the increased deductions for children.
The Bush plan assumes a 10-year budget surplus of $4.115 trillion as predicted by the Congressional Budget Office. The tax cuts would be financed separately from money that would be set aside for Social Security reform.
Al Gore " Democrat
Gore offers a rebuttal to Bush's plan by echoing the Democratic refrain about the benefits of government to the people, saying, "Well, it is your money -- but it's your Medicare, it's your Social Security, it's your environment, it's your school system, it's your country."
True to this belief, he focuses more on securing the future of services such as Social Security and Medicare than on providing tax cuts. The cuts that he does favor are a reduction in the marriage penalty and more deductions for charitable contributions.
In addition, he supports the creation of several government services that would help people save for retirement.
Gore also supports the research and development credit but doesn't support an increase in the child tax credit.
Like Bush, Gore supports raising the threshold of the current child-credit to $200,000 for married couples and single parents.
This plan offers the most benefit to middle-income families and those who depend the most on the government services that Gore pledges to protect.
Gore's tax plan is based on figures from the Office of Management and Budget projecting a budget surplus of $3.045 trillion over the next 10 years.
Harry Browne " Libertarian
Harry Browne proposes what he calls "The Great Libertarian Offer to the American People: Would you give up your favorite federal programs if you never had to pay income tax again?"
The crux of his tax plan is the complete end of most taxes, specifically personal income taxes, capital gains taxes, cigarette taxes, corporate taxes and estate taxes.
He would reduce the size of the federal government to the point where these taxes would be unnecessary, including shutting down the IRS by executive order. In addition he supports requiring a super-majority (2/3 vote) in both houses of Congress to raise taxes.
He says that he would "return to the ideal of the founders by limiting government to the small size that they spelled out in the 9th and 10th amendments.
Pat Buchanan " Reform
Pat Buchanan supports the institution of a flat tax, a system where all people pay the same rate or amount.
His plan calls for the exemption of the first $35,000 of personal income and than a tax on 16 percent of income above that. There would also be deductions for charitable donations, home mortgage interest and a per-child tax credit. He would also abolish the estate tax on inheritances up to $5 million.
Small businesses would benefit from a similar scheme in which companies would be taxed 4 percent on all profits above $1 million.
Buchanan also supports a 50 percent cut in the capital gains tax to encourage investment.
To pay for these cuts he supports an increase in taxes on international corporations and a higher tariff on imports.
Ralph Nader " Green
Ralph Nader supports a progressive tax plan, one in which people with higher incomes pay more, because, according to his web site, "it's their influence that rigged the system to get them rich to begin with."
He also feels that companies should be taxed more and that they "are not contributing their fair share to the tax pool."
He also supports taxation on such things as stock market speculation, pollution, and Internet commerce. His philosophy involves cutting taxes on other items such as "honest labor" and food.
The Green Party summarizes their tax plan as having a tax on "activities we don't like" and lower taxes "on things we do."
