President Barack Obama is proposing to spend nearly one trillion taxpayer dollars on a federal stimulus package to hopefully revive the ailing U.S. economy. Such a bill has already been passed by the House of Representatives and is now headed to the Senate, where changes to it are likely. Therefore, what form the final version of this bill will take is unknown at this time.
Regardless, no one can really be sure if this remedy is going to do the trick or how quickly we might start seeing any results. To increase the odds of success, however, I think there are at least ten things should be included in this legislation. Below, I have listed them, in order of importance.
1) An immediate, across-the-board, five percent cut in marginal income tax rates for individuals. All taxpayers should start seeing the extra money in their paychecks as soon as the stimulus bill becomes law.
2) Suspension of all federal taxes on small businesses, continuing through the end of 2011.
3) A tax reduction for corporations that do not send jobs overseas and a tax increase for those who do.
4) Suspension of employers' share of payroll taxes for any U.S. employees hired in 2009. This would continue through the end of 2010 and would not apply to the rehire or replacement of workers laid off after the passage of this bill. This benefit would end early for any employer laying off more than 5% of its work force after the passage of this bill and before the end of 2010.
5) An incentive for banks to loan money to individuals and businesses that have acceptable credit ratings. As a part if this incentive, a Federal Loan Insurance Corporation (FLIC) - modeled after the FDIC for depositors - should be created to insure loans made to the most creditworthy.
6) Protection for struggling homeowners who bought homes within their means and are honestly trying to pay their mortgages.
7) A temporary suspension in individual limits in federal unemployment insurance benefits.
8) A one-time, $2000 tax deduction for anyone purchasing a new car from a U.S. dealer in 2009.
9) Tax credits in 2009, 2010, and 2011 for banks and other financial institutions that cap their interest rates at 10% for all of their credit card customers who pay on time.
10) A ten-percent tax deduction for all cash purchases of big ticket items (things that cost $500 or more, other than cars or houses) in 2009, limited to a total amount of $2000 in deductions. For example, let's say someone purchases at big screen TV for $1500 and a refrigerator for $1200. That would mean deductions of $150 and $120 respectively, for a total of $270. All qualifying purchases would have to be made in the U.S.
Author: Terry Mitchell
About the author:
Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, blogger, and amateur political analyst from Virginia, USA. He's been in the software development/engineering line of work for over 26 years.
On his blog -- http://commenterry.blogs.com -- he writes about various subjects such as current events, politics, cultural and social issues, health and well-being, personal finance, religion, technology, media issues, law, government, sports, humor, and trivia.
Article source: Free Taxes Articles.
