Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards spoke at Grand View College in Des Moines on Thursday to unveil his plan that would provide more tax cuts for the middle class and increase taxes for the wealthy.

“We need to reform our tax system to reward work instead of just rewarding wealth, which is what we are doing today,” he said. “The people who are doing extraordinarily well are not carrying their fair share of the tax burden.”

Edwards said the good economic times we hear about are only benefiting the very wealthy and big multinational corporations.

Edwards proposed what he called “Get Ahead Accounts” that would help lower-income families.

“We are going to provide a dollar-for-dollar match, up to $500 a year, for what they are able to save,” he said.

He also proposed what he called “College for Everyone,” which he said he has already done privately in a lower-income part of North Carolina. It would allow students who graduate high school to attend their first year of college without having to pay tuition and book fees as long as they work.

Also included in the proposed plan were what he called work bonds for low-income families, which would match funds and act as a savings account, and exempting the first $250 in interest, capital gains and dividends to allow low-income families to get a start on savings without paying any taxes.

Furthermore, Edwards called for cutting the marriage penalty for 3 million families and for an expansion of child care credit so families can save for the future.

To pay for the plan, Edwards said he would increase taxation and end big tax breaks on the wealthy.

“I will repeal George Bush’s tax cuts for people earning more than $200,000. I will also raise the top capital gains rate to 28 percent,” he said.

He said he does not favor the complete elimination of the estate tax, but said there does need to be an exemption for middle class families, small business owners, and farmers, in order to protect their assets from being taxed. He said the exemption would include those with estates valued above $4 million.

Edwards said his plan would help respect the work of workers and that people in high-end tax brackets would have to pay their fair share.

Edwards said his plan would raise more than $50 billion, which he would put toward health care and education.

All of this added to Edwards’ platform that focuses on universal health care, ending global warming, tax reform, strengthening the middle class and ending the war in Iraq.

“The great economic times are when the middle class was growing. Now it’s just a few people at the top that are growing,” Edwards said.