Giuliani To Unveil Tax Policy, Says It Will Be Death To 'Death Tax'

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) _ Rudy Giuliani says that as president he plans to kill both the ``marriage penalty'' and ``death tax.'' <br/><br/>In a speech prepared for Saturday morning, Giuliani

Friday, August 24th 2007, 5:40 pm

By: News On 6

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) _ Rudy Giuliani says that as president he plans to kill both the ``marriage penalty'' and ``death tax.''

In a speech prepared for Saturday morning, Giuliani planned to tell voters he would help them have more control over their money.

His campaign has focused on tax cuts and less government. He plans to tell voters they face $3 trillion in tax increases over the next decade unless tax cuts are made permanent _ something most Democrats have opposed. He also plans to advocate for a permanent child tax credit and lower marginal income tax rates.

Giuliani wants to tie marginal tax rates to the current levels _ set there temporarily _ and perhaps cut the rates further. The former New York mayor also plans to tie the alternative minimum tax to the rate of inflation, which he says would stop tax hikes on 30 million Americans by 2010.

Giuliani, who has strong national polling results but trails former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, planned to ``give the death tax the death penalty,'' his campaign said. What some politicians call the ``death tax'' involves the taxes on wealth passed on through inheritance. The current rate is set at 45 percent through 2009. It would drop to zero in 2010 but jump to 55 percent in 2011.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told a crowd largely made up of university students Friday that more needs to be done to help young people afford college.

About 2,000 people crowded into Florida A&M University's basketball gymnasium to hear the Illinois senator. Most were FAMU students, with some Florida State students and non-students joining them.

``We've got to make sure that we fix this student finance program at universities and colleges all across the country. Every young person who should go to college should not have to take out $50,000 worth of loans. You should be getting grants instead of loans. We can afford to do that, we're the wealthiest nation on earth,'' Obama said.

He told the crowd that 70 percent of his own financial assistance for college came in the form of grants, and 30 percent in loans, which he paid off in a year.

``These days it's harder for many of the young people here. And you've got 200,000 young people around the country who don't even go to college because they can't afford it. That doesn't make sense,'' Obama said.

He said banks and other financial institutions earn $8 billion in profits from student loan programs, and he argued that the government could provide the same assistance and a lower cost.

``If we cut out the middleman and gave the loans and the grants directly to students, we can give more students more grants. So it's not that we don't know how to do it, it's that we've got to overcome the lobbyists and special interests in Washington that are making a profit off the education of our students,'' he said to loud cheers.

The event felt a lot like a pep rally. As school President James Ammons introduced Obama, he led students in the Rattler Strike. Students rapidly stomped their feet in the bleachers while waving two fingers bent like fangs and hissing like the school mascot.