Alonzo
09-22-2007, 12:43 PM
RESTON, Va. - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said Friday that the alternative minimum tax — which is expected to generate as much as $1 trillion over the next 10 years — could be eliminated over the long term by balancing it out with even more tax cuts.
Giuliani's remarks prompted a bewildered response from his audience of technology executives. Both Republicans and Democrats said they assumed that the candidate must have misspoken as he responded to a question about the tax and its affect the middle class.
But a Giuliani spokeswoman said later that Giuliani meant what he said — tax cuts could replace the lost revenue from the AMT by boosting the overall economy.
"Giuliani is the quintessential supply-sider," said spokeswoman Maria Comella.
The alternative minimum tax, or AMT, was enacted in 1969 to ensure that a handful of wealthy taxpayers could not exploit a series of loopholes to avoid paying any income taxes.
But the tax was never indexed for inflation. It now applies to more than 4 million taxpayers and has been the target of tax reformers who say it will soon unfairly target middle-class taxpayers, if it hasn't already.
But eliminating the AMT would be extremely expensive, costing $100 billion in 2010 alone.
Giuliani told the 700-member audience of the Northern Virginia Technology Council that he wants to cap the tax, and perhaps eventually eliminate it altogether.
"Over time we can figure out how to eliminate it. ... If we were going to eliminate it, though, we'd have to balance it with additional tax cuts," Giuliani said, leaving confused expressions on his audience. "That might be by making the Bush tax cuts permanent."
He continued, saying he "wouldn't eliminate it until we had tax reform."
"I do think he may have misspoke," said Gerry Connolly, the Democratic chairman of Fairfax County's Board of Supervisors.
In other parts of his speech, Giuliani addressed the need to use technology to combat illegal immigration. He advocated a tamperproof national ID card to identify those who come into the country legally, and said sensors and other technology could create a "virtual fence" on the southern border to complement a physical fence used in other spots.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_el_pr/giuliani_taxes
Giuliani's remarks prompted a bewildered response from his audience of technology executives. Both Republicans and Democrats said they assumed that the candidate must have misspoken as he responded to a question about the tax and its affect the middle class.
But a Giuliani spokeswoman said later that Giuliani meant what he said — tax cuts could replace the lost revenue from the AMT by boosting the overall economy.
"Giuliani is the quintessential supply-sider," said spokeswoman Maria Comella.
The alternative minimum tax, or AMT, was enacted in 1969 to ensure that a handful of wealthy taxpayers could not exploit a series of loopholes to avoid paying any income taxes.
But the tax was never indexed for inflation. It now applies to more than 4 million taxpayers and has been the target of tax reformers who say it will soon unfairly target middle-class taxpayers, if it hasn't already.
But eliminating the AMT would be extremely expensive, costing $100 billion in 2010 alone.
Giuliani told the 700-member audience of the Northern Virginia Technology Council that he wants to cap the tax, and perhaps eventually eliminate it altogether.
"Over time we can figure out how to eliminate it. ... If we were going to eliminate it, though, we'd have to balance it with additional tax cuts," Giuliani said, leaving confused expressions on his audience. "That might be by making the Bush tax cuts permanent."
He continued, saying he "wouldn't eliminate it until we had tax reform."
"I do think he may have misspoke," said Gerry Connolly, the Democratic chairman of Fairfax County's Board of Supervisors.
In other parts of his speech, Giuliani addressed the need to use technology to combat illegal immigration. He advocated a tamperproof national ID card to identify those who come into the country legally, and said sensors and other technology could create a "virtual fence" on the southern border to complement a physical fence used in other spots.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_el_pr/giuliani_taxes