Howard Dean. He wants to get rid of all of President George W. Bush’s nearly $2 trillion worth of tax cuts. But that means jettisoning cuts–in some cases, substantial ones–for middle-class families. Some high-ranking Dean insiders had predicted their man would propose his own menu of middle-class tax cuts. But in a speech last week, Dean stuck to his abolitionist stance. Aides had concluded he might be branded a flip-flopper. And in liberal Iowa, which holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses in January, Dean can’t afford to be outflanked on the left by the solidifying campaign of Rep. Dick Gephardt, who also advocates rolling back all the cuts.
Joe Lieberman. He wants to keep the middle-class tax cuts, but last week he added details to appeal to both left and right. He proposed raising the income-tax rates for the wealthy–but also keeping Bush-generated reductions in taxes on capital gains. Lieberman also wants to end $200 billion in “corporate loopholes and wasteful subsidies.” An example: tax breaks for ethanol, a fuel manufactured from corn. Ethanol is a sacred cow to Iowa farmers. But Lieberman has decided not to compete there.
Dick Gephardt. The Missouri congressman wants to use all the Bush tax-cut cash to finance his own massive tax cut: one that would give employers a sweeping new break for providing health insurance for workers. The proposal is the centerpiece of Gephardt’s effort to win union support. Said a top adviser to the campaign, “We needed to draw a clear, bright line between our campaign and all the others, and that’s how we’ve been able to do it.”
John Kerry. Trailing Dean in New Hampshire, Kerry was the first to argue that wiping out the Bush tax cuts altogether would hurt the middle class. Last week Kerry got support–though not by name–from an important source. Paul Krugman, the influential New York Times columnist (and Bush critic), advised Democrats to keep the middle-class cuts. Keeping the cuts in the marriage penalty and the increase in the dependent deduction could, he said, help shield the Democrats against “demagogic” attacks by the GOP.
