Monday in Nashua, New Hampshire General Wes Clark announced his Families First Tax Reform, the most sweeping tax plan to be offered by a presidential candidate in years. His tax-simplification plan will make the tax code more progressive, relieve the working-family squeeze and reduce poverty.

Under the Clark plan, a family of four making up to $50,000 will pay no federal income taxes, and all tax-paying families making up to $100,000 with children will get a tax cut.

"The bottom line: our tax system is broken," Clark said, "and I want to fix it. The Republicans are always talking about family values. It's time in America that we started valuing families. It's time we put America's families first again."

Families like Lance and Leah Adams from Jaffrey, New Hampshire, see the benefits of this plan. Lance is a construction site supervisor and earns $42,000 per year. Leah develops a website for a non-profit organization. She makes $3,500 per year - just enough to pay for day care for their two children, Sophie and Owen.

Clark's tax reform plan is designed for families like the Adams. Under his plan, they won't pay any federal income tax. Instead, they'll receive a check from the U.S. government, for a total tax break of $1,500.

"I believe those who work hard and excel should be rewarded," Clark said. "But I also believe that all Americans must share the burden of preserving our country. Freedom is not free - all of us benefit from the liberty and laws of our great nation, and the protections bestowed by our Constitution. We all have a responsibility to contribute our fair share."

Relief for working families will be fully paid for by closing corporate loopholes and by a five percentage point rate increase on income greater than $1 million per year. The rate increase will only affect the top 0.1 percent of taxpayers. 99.9 percent of taxpayers will not pay a dime more.

Families will only need to fill out a three-line form to find out if they need to pay federal income taxes, providing their income, number of children, and marital status. The majority of families will no longer be required to file tax forms at all.

It provides relief for middle-income parents struggling not to fall behind in the Bush economy and to lower-income families struggling to lift themselves out of poverty.

The plan will provide $33 billion annually in tax relief for working families without increasing the deficit.

"Wes Clark's Families First Tax Reform is a bold tax reform plan that is good for hard-pressed, working, American families and good for the American economy," said Laura Tyson, Dean of the London Business School and a former top advisor to President Bill Clinton.

"It provides much needed simplification to the U.S. income tax code; it offers substantial tax relief to lower- and middle-income families struggling to make ends meet; it reduces poverty; it restores progressivity to the federal income tax at a time when income and wealth inequalities in the United States are at record highs and continuing to rise; and it is fiscally responsible."

Under President Bush, typical families have seen their incomes fall by nearly $1,500 - while Bush provided an average tax cut of $128,000 to taxpayers making more than $1 million.

"Right now, the sad fact is that too many Americans are working harder and harder and earning less and less," Clark said.

Under Wes Clark's Families First Tax Reform:

• A married couple with two children making $50,000 will get a $1,583 tax break, meaning they will pay no federal income tax at all.

• A married couple with three children earning $21,000 annually will get a $2,287 tax break.

• A married couple with two children making $85,000 will get a $975 tax cut.

• 31 million working families will get tax relief, with the typical family getting a $1,477 tax cut.

"We need a higher standard of leadership in America," Clark concluded. "One that puts America's interests above special interests. One that promotes open, honest government, and holds its leaders accountable with real, measurable goals. And not just for the next election, but for the next generation."

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