"Economic Turnaround Plan – The Choice Is Romney"

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: "ECONOMIC TURNAROUND PLAN"

"Economic Turnaround Plan – The Choice Is Romney"
National Review
By Vin Weber & Cesar Conda
January 26, 2008
…

"Since day one of his campaign, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney made it clear that complacency about our economy was not on his agenda by becoming the first candidate to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. He has continued to outline substantive ways to sustain economic growth and prevent a recession, including making the Bush tax cuts permanent, reducing marginal tax rates for all Americans, providing relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax, permanently killing the death tax, and rejecting Social Security tax-rate increases.

"However, with economic and financial conditions apparently worsening, Romney believes Washington must act now. He has proposed a bold economic stimulus plan that would immediately help restore consumer and business confidence while providing new incentives to improve productivity and strengthen economic growth and America’s global competitiveness in the long term. Specifically, Romney is proposing a supply-side economic turnaround plan that would lower rates taxes on individuals, abolish taxes on saving and investment for middle-income investors, and significantly reduce taxes for business investment. The plan includes several core elements.

"For individuals, it would permanently reduce the lowest tax rate from 10 percent to 7.5 percent, providing up to a $400 tax cut for those affected. It would also eliminate payroll taxes on workers older than 65."
…

"Additionally, the plan will allow Americans with adjusted gross incomes of less than $200,000 to save tax-free, by eliminating their tax liability on interest, capital gains, and dividends."
…

"For businesses large and small, the plan would provide new incentives for job-creating investment. Companies could immediately write off or expense the cost of new equipment purchased for a two-year period, retroactive to January 1, 2008, making them more likely to invest in such equipment. This would boost economic growth, create jobs, and benefit entrepreneurs and small businesses, which often face cash-flow difficulties.

"Romney proposes to permanently reduce the corporate rate to 25 percent for 2008 and 20 percent in 2009. Today, at 35 percent, the U.S. corporate rate is the second among major industrialized countries."
…

"In 2008, we have a clear choice. We can select a nominee whose economic views have been shaped by almost 30 years spent in the free market, making businesses work and creating jobs. Or, we can pick a longtime politician who has never run a corner grocery store, much less the largest enterprise in the world – the federal government. The choice is clear, and the choice is Mitt Romney."

Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman from Minnesota, serves as policy chairman of the Romney for President Campaign. Cesar Conda, a former chief domestic policy adviser to Vice President Cheney, is a senior economic policy adviser to the Romney campaign.

To read the full op-ed, please see: http://article.nationalreview.com