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Lesson plan: Bush's proposed tax cuts

January 23, 2001
Web posted at: 4:50 PM EST (2150 GMT)

Editor's note: If you are planning to use the news story that this lesson plan is based on for a homework assignment, please write the URL on the board and have your students copy it. CNNfyi.com updates the site in the early evening, so students may have difficulty finding it without the URL. You can find the lesson plan by going to the Subject Areas page and clicking PREVIOUS in the square for Today's Lesson Plan.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Compare and contrast Democratic and Republican attitudes toward taxes.
• Develop a compromise plan for tax cuts for Democrats and Republicans.

Standards

National Council on Economic Education
Standard 17, grades nine-12

High school students should understand that the costs of government policies sometimes exceed benefits. This may occur because of incentives facing voters, government officials and government employees; because of actions by special interest groups that can impose costs on the general public; or because social goals other than economic efficiency are being pursued.

Materials

CNNfyi.com, "Democrats show signs of favoring Bush's tax cut plan"
Internet access

Suggested time

One class period

Procedures

1. Discuss with the class the current U.S. tax system.

2. Have students read the CNNfyi.com article "Democrats show signs of favoring Bush's tax cut plan" and ask the following:

• Who introduced the new tax plan? What are some examples of tax cuts in Bush's plan?
• What objection do Democrats, in general, make toward the tax bill? Why do you think the Democrats want the bill to be aimed at middle-income taxpayers?

3. Have students research opinions from Democrats and Republicans about tax issues.

4. Create a list on the board of Republican views toward tax cuts. Create another list on the board of Democratic opinions on cuts.

5. Have each student develop a tax bill that would be a compromise between the two parties.

6. Have students present their bills to the class.

Assessment

Have each student select one of the bills presented by a classmate and write a press release stating that the bill has passed and discussing how it will affect people in the United States.

Accommodation

Logical/mathematical: Have students compare and contrast Democratic and Republican views toward tax cuts using a Venn diagram.

Challenge

Students can each write a letter to a U.S. senator expressing their opinions about President George W. Bush's tax cuts. Direct students to cite specific examples to suggest why the senator should vote for or against the bill.

George W. Bush for president
2000 Democratic platform
U.S. tax averages
Personal income taxes
Ronald Reagan home page: Income vs. Social Security taxes

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