Buchanan proposes jobs plan

As local jobless residents searched for work nearby, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan this morning unveiled proposed legislation he said would "create jobs and boost the economy."

Buchanan, who held a news conference at the Jobs Etc. office in Sarasota, said his five-point "Job Creation Act of 2010" - which includes some Republican mainstay positions like calling for tort reform and cuts in capital gains taxes - is designed to get the federal government to focus on what should be its top priority right now: Jobs.

“Instead of spending trillions of dollars on Wall Street bailouts and big-government programs that continue to increase the deficit, we should enact targeted measures to help small businesses and working families, boost the economy and put people back to work,” Buchanan said in a news release.

Specifically, Buchanan called for:

• Allowing small businesses to deduct all or part of the cost of business investment in one year, instead of spreading tax savings across several years. Buchanan said would allow businesses to expand, buy new equipment and hire new workers.
• Eliminating the capital gains tax for businesses for one year. Buchanan said this, too, would help businesses acquire needed capital.
• Making unemployment benefits tax free for 2010. Buchanan said currently, recipients of unemployment benefits have to pay about 11 percent in federal taxes.
• Using all funds repaid by banks and other institutions that received TARP funds to reduce the national debt.
• Curbing "frivolous" lawsuits by imposing mandatory sanctions on lawyers who file such cases and other measures.

Buchanan said how much the tax-reducing parts of his proposal would cost the federal treasury.

You can read Buchanan's news release here.