Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001

Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 was the first of President George W. Bush's (R) radical tax cuts. Tax rates were lowered across the board, with the highest bracket being decreased 39.6 percent to 35 percent. The capital gains tax was lowered as well, from 10 percent to 8 percent. The bill also reduced the estate tax annually (while raising the amount of money that qualifies for estate tax coverage), until 2010 when it was repealed for one-year.

The law provided tax credits for education, created tax incentives for married couples and increased the Child Tax Credit from $500 to $1,000.

Cry Wolf Quotes

[Obama tax proposal is] a bullet in the head for an awful lot of people that are going to be laid off and an awful lot of people who are hoping to get their jobs back.

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce economist Martin Regalia, The Hill.

I hate to tell you, by Washington's definitions that [Melancon]'s using, virtually everybody in this audience is the wealthy.

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Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)

Most economists believe that they [rich people] would spend the money and stimulate the economy.

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Gretchen Carlson, co-host of Fox & Friends.

[We have] High unemployment because small businesses, people who make $250,000 a year, are not spending and investing and it will get worse if we don’t extend those tax cuts.

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Sean Hannity, Fox News' Hannity.

Evidence