Release Date: 8/10/2004

President Bush appeared at a campaign rally in Virginia Monday and spoke about America developing into an ownership society. His message coincided with new campaign ads that began running this week that focused on Bush's vision for a second term. They reflect his belief that his policies foster an environment that expands opportunities for ownership.

He said, "If you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of our country."

Bush sees life in America changing dramatically and thinks that the government also needs to change to keep up. Tax cuts provide the stimulus for his "ownership society," but other changes he hopes to make will give Americans more choices in a variety of important areas.

Democrats have made health care an issue in this year's election, suggesting that universal coverage be provided by increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans and government mandates to employers. Bush is proposing a market-based approach that allows Americans to make more of the decisions that affect their health care costs.

He is touting health savings accounts (HSAs) that combine low-cost, high-deductible health insurance with tax-free savings accounts to pay for health care expenses. The president has also proposed that insurance premiums associated with HSAs be tax deductible.

Bush is also promoting greater access to association health plans. He says that by allowing small businesses to band together and negotiate on behalf of their employees and their families, AHPs would help small businesses and employees obtain health insurance at an affordable price, much like large employers and unions.

The president also believes Medicare would be strengthened if private health plans would be able to compete for seniors' business by providing better coverage at affordable prices. This would help to control the costs of Medicare by using market-place competition, not government price-setting. And seniors would be able to choose the health care plan that best fits their needs instead of having that choice made by the government.

Bush believes that home ownership is the cornerstone of America's vibrant communities and benefits individual families by building stability and long-term financial security. In June 2002, President Bush issued America's Homeownership Challenge to the real estate and mortgage finance industries to encourage them to join the effort to close the gap that exists between the homeownership rates of minorities and non-minorities.

Increase the number of minority homeowners by at least 5.5 million families before the end of the decade. In the second quarter of 2004 overall U.S. homeownership rate was at an all time high of 69.2 percent. Minority homeownership set a new record of 51 percent in the second quarter, up 0.2 percentage point from the first quarter and up 2.1 percentage points from a year ago.

Bush established several initiatives to dismantle the barriers to homeownership that include a program that provides down payment assistance to approximately 40,000 low-income families and a single-family affordable housing tax credit that would increase the supply of affordable homes. He has also proposed increasing support for the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunities Program and education that would empower homebuyers by simplifying the home buying process.

Democrats contend that the Bush tax cuts have had a detrimental effect on the economy, but Bush says that his cuts were the right medicine for the ailing economy he inherited. He points out that tax relief helped America's workers but putting more money in families' pockets and encouraging businesses to grow and invest. America's families and small businesses have more money to spend, save, and invest because of the President's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. This year, 111 million taxpayers will receive, on average, a tax cut of $1,586 and 25 million small business owners will receive $75 billion in total tax relief.

The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 accelerated the tax relief signed into law by the President in 2001, including marriage penalty relief, an increase in the child tax credit, and tax rate reductions for every family that pays income taxes. The president's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts also provided new incentives for businesses, especially small businesses, to invest in plants and equipment and create new jobs.

Bush has called on Congress to extend his tax relief plan set to expire next year. He says that if Congress does not act, American families and businesses would see a tax increase starting next year and damage economic recovery and future job creation.

Without reauthorization, the small business expensing limit will shrink from $100,000 to just $25,000, increasing the cost of capital investments for America's small businesses in 2006. By 2009, the top tax rate on dividends will have increased from 15 to 35 percent, while the tax on capital gains will climb from 15 to 20 percent, raising the tax burden on retirees and families investing for their future.

Every American taxpayer will feel the effect should Congress fail to act to extend the Bush tax cuts. By 2011, the tax rate relief, new 10-percent tax bracket, death tax repeal, marriage penalty relief, small business expensing, and all the remaining tax relief enacted over the past three years will sunset, resulting in tax increases for every individual American man or woman who pays income taxes.