A Recession of Confidence

Tony Perkins, Washington Update, FRC: An advanced degree in economics is not necessary to understand the current challenges to America's economy. A simple trip to the gas pump is an education in itself. While oil prices are up the latest employment numbers are down. The Federal Reserve has reduced interest rates three times in the last year in an attempt to prevent the economy from stalling. Before leaving for his Mideast peace pursuit, President Bush acknowledged the economic trouble and said he was considering a stimulus package to jumpstart the economy. The biggest challenge for our economy comes when consumer confidence drops. A proven measure that can help stabilize the economy would be to act now to make permanent President Bush's 2002 tax cuts that eliminated the marriage tax penalty and increased the per child tax credit. While the economy is sputtering the liberal majority on Capitol Hill is counting the new money they will have when the tax breaks for families expire in 2010. Since 2002, when the President's tax relief first kicked in, America has experienced 65 months of uninterrupted growth. If congressional leaders hope to ease this wave of uncertainty, they would be wise to stop fueling it with strategies that increase the tax burden on the American family. Rather than wasting valuable time debating temporary solutions, why not pursue what continues to be the best stimulus for growth--making the President's tax cuts permanent? While liberals argue that the country can't "afford" permanency, America is fast approaching a situation where we can't afford not to have it. For the first time in almost 20 years we have a president who believes that tax cuts and reform are important issues. If now is not the time to enact full and permanent tax relief for families, when is?

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Tags: Family Research Council, FRC, income tax, tax relief, Tony Perkins To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!