WASHINGTON – Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, wants an immediate $300 tax refund for every worker in America to stimulate the economy.
The Connecticut senator says the quick tax cut, which he estimates would cost about $60 billion, should be enacted without regard to any long-term tax reduction, such as those proposed by President Bush and by congressional Democrats.
“If we try to work that out, it will be next year before we get any money back to people,” Lieberman said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Let’s cut checks and send what comes to $300 to every one of the almost 200 million taxpayers in America — Mon, Dad, kids, whoever worked and does the payroll tax or income tax.”
Lieberman noted that the tax cut proposed by Bush — though expected to cost at least $1.6 trillion over 10 years — would offer little to taxpayers this year — only about $5.6 billion, in fact.
“The economy needs help now,” Lieberman said. Because most of the tax cut he proposes would go to working families, “they’re going to spend it. And that’s what the economy needs for a bit of a lift right now.”
He said the refund checks should start going out quickly after the bill is signed into law. “I think, from what we’re finding out, that the treasury can do that pretty quickly,” Lieberman said.
Republican senators also are calling for a tax cut worth about $60 billion this year in the interest of stimulating an economy that has been struggling to maintain its record of 10 consecutive years of growth. And although Bush has insisted that his bill is the right size, he hinted Friday that he could accept a bigger immediate stimulus.
While Democratic congressional leaders insist that Bush’s tax cut is much too large, they are calling for a quick, sizable reduction to help the economy.
