Kerry targets Bush economic policy as 'fiscal mess'

Senator John Kerry said on Wednesday the United States needs to make the "right choices" on the economy, and faulted US President George W. Bush for blaming others and offering excuses for the White House's own failed economic policies.
In an opinion published in the Wall Street Journal, titled "My Economic Policy," the Democratic presidential candidate said his economic plan would create good jobs, cut middle-class taxes and health-care costs, halve the US budget deficit, and restore the US competitive edge and economic confidence.
Kerry said Bush, a Republican seeking re-election on November 2, has since taking office in 2001 presided over a loss of 1.6 million private-sector jobs, a $1,500 drop in the typical family's income and $3,500 increase in its health care costs, falling US corporate investment and exports, a soaring trade deficit, and tax cuts that failed to stimulate growth and caused the budget deficit to balloon.
Even in the last year, Kerry said, real wages have fallen, and job growth lagged the worst year under Bush's Democratic predecessor, Bill Clinton, who served for eight years.
"Forty-three months into his presidency, George Bush's main explanation for this dismal economic record is an assortment of blame and excuses," Kerry said.
"Cleaning up President Bush's fiscal mess will not be easy" and requires "tough choices," Kerry said. "With the right choices on the economy, America can do better."
In his economic plan, Kerry pledged to end tax loopholes that encourage US companies to outsource, institute a two-year new jobs tax credit, and cut corporate tax rates by 5 percent.
He also called for making permanent recent tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans, rolling back cuts for families making more than $200,000 per year, and making bigger college, child care and health care tax cuts than Bush supports.
On health care, Kerry wants to give employers some relief on catastrophic costs, ease generic drugs' progress to market and safe pharmaceutical imports, and take steps to reduce excessive medical malpractice awards.
Kerry also proposed investing more in various forms of research and providing tax credits to spur investment.
He pledged to cut the US budget deficit in half over four years, and cap discretionary spending, outside of security and education, from growing faster than the inflation rate. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the deficit will total $422 billion in the current fiscal year.