[lbo-talk] Still solidly Bush

Marvin Gandall marvgandall at rogers.com
Tue May 25 05:42:21 PDT 2004


Even by traditional Republican standards and despite Iraq, Wall Street is engaged in an unprecedented drive to reelect George Bush, according to the Washington Post.

Investment dealers like Morgan Stanley, who have profited hugely from the administration’s first term dividend and capital gain tax cuts, are leading the charge. “Those profits stand to soar higher if Bush is relected”, the Post reports.

The administration is promising to enact what the Post describes as “the most dramatic Bush tax proposal yet” - so-called “Lifetime Savings Accounts” , or super-IRA’s which would allow wealthy families to shelter up to $30,000 annually of investment income.

But the real prize being sought by Wall Street is the partial privatization of Social Security which would redirect billions into individual investment accounts and away from the public system. The White House is anticipating that this so-called “reform” of Social Security will be “the crowning domestic achievement of a Bush second term”, says the Post.

Under Bush, the average tax rate on investment income has dropped to 9.6%; wages are taxed at an average 23.4%.

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50364-2004May23.html Also: http://www.supportingfacts.com

Sorry for any cross posting.



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list