IPI Publication Press Release - Bushwhacking a Weed-infested Government

This information is taken from a recent IPI Issue Brief, “The Fiscal Plans of Al Gore and George Bush: A Comparison,” by Gary and Aldona Robbins. For copies or further information, visit www.ipi.org or call
Sonia Hoffman at (972) 874-5139. The authors are available for interviews.

	IPI Publication Press Release IPI Issue Brief Related Publication Title: The Fiscal Plans of Al Gore and George Bush: A Comparison Released by Sonia Hoffman on 02/07/2001	Synopsis Full Text Press Release (10/09/2000) Press Release (10/12/2000) Press Release (10/30/2000) Press Release (10/31/2000) Press Release (02/07/2001) Press Release (01/25/2001) Media Advisory (10/09/2000) OpEd (11/09/2000) Full Text PDF
	Bushwhacking a Weed-infested Government For Release: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 Contact: Sonia Hoffman (888) 557-4IPI or shoffman@ipi.org Dallas, TX: This is tax season. Families and individuals gathering their W2’s and hoping for the best—a refund, perhaps—as they sit down to file this year’s IRS tax forms. Yet they are faced with a weed-infested government—growing out of hand at the expense of hard working taxpayers—which, according to the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), deserves a little Bushwhacking. The President intends to take further action this week to advance his tax cut package. Even ranking Democrats agree that shaving overly wild surpluses makes for good fiscal policy. “At stake is what should be done with more than $2 trillion in surpluses left over after the public debt has been paid down,” say IPI Senior Research Fellows Gary and Aldona Robbins, authors of a recent IPI Issue Brief. “These surpluses would have been at least $500 billion higher had Congress not added extra spending at the end of last year. Using the surpluses for tax cuts would prevent the danger of more out-of-control spending and give a needed shot in the arm to an economy that is rapidly grinding to a halt.“ IPI has voiced for many months that tax cuts would be the best use of the now $5.6 trillion budget surplus. According to the Robbins, President Bush’s plan would have positive effects on the economy, resulting in the following benefits by 2010: · For every dollar of static revenue loss, Bush’s tax cuts would generate $1.80 in added output. · The Bush tax plan would generate almost 2 million new jobs (a 1.4% increase) and raise the stock of U.S. capital by 6.8 percent. · The drop in marginal tax rates would raise the growth rate from 2.7 to 2.97 percent. · The federal budget would fare well under the Bush plan, with higher growth offsetting 27.3% of the static revenue loss by 2010 and 34.2% by 2020. “This seems like the perfect climate for tax reform to take root,” continued the Robbins. “There finally seems to be bipartisan support for tax cuts, as people become more aware of the size of the budget surplus and the pending economic downturn.” This information is taken from a recent IPI Issue Brief, “The Fiscal Plans of Al Gore and George Bush: A Comparison,” by Gary and Aldona Robbins. For copies or further information, visit www.ipi.org or call Sonia Hoffman at (972) 874-5139. The authors are available for interviews.