[natedogg]

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nate, your point is a good one. It is important to consider whether the proposed program would be accomplish what it purports to do.

I am not so sure about your capital gains tax point though. For people who are very poor, it would be much more beneficial to them (in the short term) to receive any other form of tax reduction other than capital gains tax reduction.

There is a long-term value in getting poor people with some ability to save to be able to make money from saving and to reduce the amount of that profit that the government takes. It's not clear to me, though, that this benefit is very significant compared to those of other policies.

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The main benefit to the poor from low capital gains taxes is not a reduction in their personal tax liability. (If you wanted to do that the best thing you could possibly do is eliminate social security).

But lowering capital gains taxes *is* one of the best policies for the poor, because low capital gains spurs the investment that creates jobs. A job is far, far more beneficial than any handout of any kind.

natedogg