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Bush says Kerry tax plan a threat to workers
(agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-06 10:45

U.S. President George W. Bush under election-year pressure on the economy, said on Sunday that Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry 's plan to raise taxes on the wealthy would hinder the creation of jobs.

At a Labor Day weekend rally in a battleground state that has lost many jobs since he took office, the Republican underscored his own message of economic renewal and said Kerry's plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans increased the burden on small-business owners who create jobs.

U.S. President Bush points towards the Oval Office, referring to where he is going, upon arrival from a trip to Parkersburg, W.Va., Sunday, Sept. 5, 2004, in Washington. [AP]

"Raising taxes will stifle job creation," Bush told thousands of cheering supporters at a high school football stadium in Parkersburg, a steel and manufacturing city near the important swing states of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, has vowed to cut taxes for the middle class and roll back Bush's tax cuts for those who earn more than $200,000 a year, saying the president's priorities give the biggest benefits to the richest.

"His plan to raise taxes on those at the top end of the income-tax scale will raise taxes ... for the 900,000 small businesses and entrepreneurs who pay at the individual rate and who are creating most of the new jobs in our changing economy," Bush said.

The Kerry campaign quickly hit back, accusing Bush of using a misleading definition of small business that would include both himself and Vice President Dick Cheney Bush, Cheney and Kerry are all millionaires.

"If voters think that giving Dick Cheney a tax cut is the best way to create jobs, they should vote for George Bush But if they want a plan that cuts taxes for small business that create(s) jobs or offer(s) health insurance, they should vote for John Kerry," Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said in a statement.

Bush polls strongly among likely voters on issues related to national security and the war on terrorism, but has faced more of a challenge on job growth and the economy.

Bush has jumped to an 11-point lead over Kerry nationally since last week's Republican convention in New York. Newsweek and Time magazine polls showed him leading Kerry 52-41 percent after months of surveys painting a neck-and-neck race.

In weekend speeches, Bush pointed to new August jobs numbers showing unemployment slipping to 5.4 percent and 1.7 million jobs created over the past year.

However, about 1.65 million private-sector jobs have disappeared since Bush took office in January 2001.

Bush won heavily Democratic West Virginia over Democrat Al Gore by 6 percentage points in 2000 by advocating the interests of the coal industry and gun owners.

But with Kerry mounting a powerful challenge this year, both sides have been traversing the state whose five electoral votes could determine the outcome of a close contest.

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