"Under George Bush's policies, middle-class families are paying more," prospective democrat presidential nominee John Kerry said recently. "America's middle-class cant afford a tax increase. That's why were going to give the middle-class a tax cut."

Where exactly has Mr. Kerry been the last three years? Has he really been that oblivious to the world outside his family's SUV he doesn't own and too busy flying Hillary Clinton's hair dresser around on his wife's multimillion dollar Gulfstream V private jet to help him with his hair crisis or is he really just that confused?

By the end of calendar year 2003, the American economy realized an expanse of unparalleled growth not seen in twenty years. Most economists agree that economic furor was fueled by the tax cuts promoted and adopted by president Bush. This should be great news for everyone, but not Senator Kerry and the democrats, oh no.

They went on the attack when four recent news releases from the I.R.S. appeared on April 9th which included a statement that reiterated the obvious: "America has a choice: It can continue to grow the economy and create new jobs as the president's policies are doing, or it can raise taxes on American families and small businesses, hurting economic recovery and future job creation."

Rob Nichols, a spokesman for the Treasury Department, said on behalf of the I.R.S., "Stating our position is appropriate". Not according to the Kerry camp. Reporting good economic news during an election year while hes campaigning for the presidency is downright scurrilous.

Which means he probably shouldnt come to North Carolina anytime soon while he's avoiding positive economic news. State corporate income tax collections surged by nearly 40 percent in March, fattening North Carolina's revenue surplus, reported the Associated Press in April. That's right, during these dire economic times created by president Bush's reckless tax cuts for the rich about which Senator Kerry keeps mendaciously reminding us during his stump speeches, the year-to-date tax revenue collection surplus in North Carolina at the end of February was 35.9 million dollars.

More importantly, the corporate income tax revenues only constituted 5.5 percent of total collections for the 2002-2003 fiscal year so the largest bulk of our revenue will come from sales and income tax payments from working families. Together, current revenue is growing at pace of 5.1 percent which is higher than the original positive budget figures that projected a 4 percent growth.

The tax cuts president Bush passed put more money in the hands of American families who then spent that money, which has fueled the current economic activity and expansion. Higher sales of merchandise generates more revenue from sales tax and larger production orders for companies to restock store warehouses. That drives up corporate profits which leads to the creation of more jobs, higher salaries, and more tax collection revenue.

Although North Carolina is but a microcosm of the American economy, it more poignantly illuminates the positive aspect of the economic recovery than most places especially considering the number of lost manufacturing jobs the state has endured.

Just during the last month alone the seventeen states which embody the Southern region constitutes almost half of all new homes sold in the United States and is one of the major factors for this economic prosperity.

All this becomes even more profound when you factor in a recent announcement from the Tax Foundation that of the 133 million expected tax returns this year, 35.7 million will pay no federal income tax. The Tax Foundation announced, "[Their] economists estimate that should the Bush plan be enacted, it would increase the number of tax filers with zero tax liability by 3.8 million, to 39.5 million." That's due mostly to the increase of the child credit from $600 to $1000 per child.

Almost 4 million additional working families, which would bring the representational number of Americans who file federal income tax with no tax burden up to an estimated 82 million people!

Since the $1000 child tax credit is a Bush plan proposal the president is urging Congress to make permanent, exactly what tax cut is it that Senator Kerry plans to put forward to help working middle-class families more than having almost 30 percent of them with zero tax liability, especially given the fact he voted against it in its current status as a temporary benefit?

The added revenue from income tax savings has helped to give working families the extra money they needed to provide a down payment for a new home and coupled with the lowered interest rate, that dream has become a reality for a record number of Americans. It has also spurred millions of existing home owners to refinance their mortgages, saving them even more money to spend on other things such as; cars, clothing, and home & garden supplies.

Along with positive job market growth, the Consumer Confidence Index rose higher in April than analysts predictions to 92.9, up from 88.5 in March. Two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States is directly attributable to consumer spending, so as long as Americans are confident in the economy and have the money to spend we will see consistent growth in all areas of our economic system.

One past democrat presidential contender promised working American families a tax break during his campaign, then after winning the election raised taxes on everybody. Senator Kerry says America's middle-class can't afford a tax increase, so will history repeat itself?

Lee P Butler