Bush, Gore And The Bottom Line
The candidates have made their positions clear: Al Gore calls for targeted tax cuts, while George W. Bush Bush wants to provide an across-the-board tax reduction for almost everybody. But what’s the bottom line for a cash-strapped couple with two children?
CBS News Early Show’s Jane Clayson takes a look at how the candidates' economic plans would affect one Boston couple having difficulty making ends meet. Kenn Elmore is a university administrator who earns $44,000 a year. He also attends law school at night. His wife Abby works part time and earns $19,000 a year. Their housing is provided by the university, so day care for their two children is their largest expense. The couple pays more than $1,400 a month for day care, which is more than Abby's take home salary.
An additional financial drain is Kenn's law school tuition, which costs $12,000 a year. They get $8,500 a year in loans and pay for the rest themselves.
After all of their expenses, Kenn and Abby are having trouble saving money for the future. “We're not able to save for our children's college education in any significant way,” says Kenn.
Dan Mitchell of the Heritage Foundation and Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution help analyze the benefits provided by each candidates’ economic plan.
Says Mitchell: ”The Bush campaign has across-the-board tax relief and means the family would benefit from the rate reduction, a per child tax credit, and also from marriage penalty relief. The Gore tax package is more targeted, but does provide some benefits - smaller than what the Bush campaign provides.”
Says Aaron: ”That is true. It's not about who should give the largest tax cut. It shouldn't be. But the family would stand to benefit significantly under the Gore plan and would receive assistance in the form of a tax credit for any saving they could do. It would receive a tax deduction for the college tuition that they pay. It would receive a tax credit for their day care expenses. … What this means is that the Gore plan links tax reductions to the achievement of social objectives that I think all Americans consider to be quite important.”
For a couple like Kenn and Abby, the choice between the candidates might be as simple as deciding where they want their money to go. Gore promises to put the surplus into Social Security and Medicare, while Bush would put more of their money back in their pockets.