NEWS
Bush makes 3 stops in Wisconsin
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by Ryan Masse
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
RICHLAND CENTER — President Bush gave no indications of fatigue during the second stop in an eight-hour, three-rally schedule in Wisconsin Tuesday, defending his tax cuts at a forum in Richland Center.
Held in between an early-morning visit to Onalaska and a later rally in Cuba City, Bush’s late-morning visit to the small town 60 miles northwest of Madison revolved around issues facing the economy. The president reeled off a multitude of economic indicators to prove his controversial tax cuts are working: 1.9 million jobs created in the last year, low interest rates, low unemployment and home ownership rates at all-time highs.
“We’re moving forward, and we’re not going to go back to the days of tax and spend,” Bush said, speaking in the gymnasium at Richland Center High School. “That’s not an economic policy. That’s a way to get in your wallet and grow the size of the federal government.”
Speaking loudly and forcibly, Bush was joined onstage by four small-business owners from the Richland Center area. They all credited Bush’s tax cuts for allowing them to increase capital investments in their companies.
Eric Sauey, owner of vehicle seating manufacturer Seats, Inc. in Reedsburg, said the tax cuts have enabled his small subchapter S corporation to hire more workers and buy more equipment.
“See, the money is not going to the federal government. The money is staying with his company, which gives him the optimism and confidence to expand,” Bush replied.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has criticized the structure of Bush’s tax cuts, saying Bush has run up the largest federal deficit in history by easing the tax burden on the richest 2 percent of income-earners in America. Kerry has proposed to fund his various initiatives, such as increased health-care coverage, by repealing the cut.
Kerry uses faulty logic, though, Bush said. By increasing taxes for the top 2-percent bracket, small businesses such as Sauey’s would be adversely affected and less likely to hire new workers, the president said, noting many sole proprietorships and subchapter S corporations file individual income taxes.
Bush also argued Kerry’s repeal of the tax cut for the wealthy would only cover a fraction of the new spending Kerry is proposing.
“If you promise $2.2 trillion, but your tax plan only raises between $600 billion and $800 billion, there is a gap between what is promised and what can be delivered,” Bush said of Kerry’s plan.
Another of Bush’s guests, new homeowner Korey Kanable, cited tax cuts and advantageous interest rates in enabling his recent acquisition. Bush claimed Kanable epitomized the ideals of his ownership-based society.
“I like to tell people, no one ever washes a rental car,” Bush said.
Mindful of the agricultural heritage of the Richland Center region, Bush explained his stances on policies directly affecting farms. He repeated support for the Milk Income Loss Contract Program, a safety net initiative helping farmers cope with low milk prices, and touted the need for foreign markets to be open for Wisconsin farmers’ products.
Richland Center resident Kent Frybenlund thought Bush’s policies played well in the small town of 5,000.
“We have the farm community and a lot of small businesses that need the tax relief they’re getting,” Frybenlund said. “And health care is an issue here and I think [Bush] has a practical approach. His visit really vitalized the town.”
