April 23, 2008    

This week Senator McCain outlined a comprehensive pro-growth strategy that includes several new initiatives.  Included in this plan are new initiatives to help Americans confront economic challenges while focusing government on actually helping families.

• GAS PRICES: John McCain Believes We Should Institute A Summer Gas Tax Holiday.  Hard-working American families are suffering from higher gasoline prices. John McCain calls on Congress to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

• STUDENT LOANS: John McCain Is Proposing A Student Loan Continuity Plan. Students face the possibility the credit crunch will disrupt loans for fall semester. John McCain calls on the federal government and the 50 governors to anticipate problems and expand lender-of-last resort capabilities for each state's guarantee agency.

• MIDDLE CLASS TAX CUTS: John McCain Will Double The Personal Exemption For Dependents. John McCain believes the tax code should be less burdensome on mothers and fathers or single parents who are trying to raise a family. He proposes to raise the personal exemption for each dependent from $3,500 to $7,000.

• A SIMPLER TAX CODE: John McCain Will Propose An Alternative New And Simpler Tax System – And Give America A Real Choice. When this reform is enacted, all who wish to stay under the current system could still do so, but everyone else could choose a vastly less complicated system with two tax rates and a generous standard deduction. Americans do not resent paying their rightful share of taxes – what they do resent is being subjected to thousands of pages of needless and often irrational rules and demands from the IRS.

• GOVERNMENT SPENDING: John McCain Proposes A One-Year Spending Pause To Evaluate Programs. He believes that outside of essential military and veterans programs there should be a one-year discretionary spending pause that should be used for a top-to-bottom review of the effectiveness of federal programs.

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This Week’s Note From Jo Ann:

Here are a few more details on John McCain’s pro-growth strategies.  These are good points to make to any audience.

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