Dividend Tax
In 2003, the Bush adminstration lowered the tax rate on dividends. I looked a little deeper into the bill:
Soon after, the Congress passed the a bill which included some of the cuts Bush requested and which he signed into law on May 28, 2003. Under the new law dividends are taxed at a 15% rate for most individual taxpayers. Dividends received by low income individuals are taxed at a 5% rate until December 31, 2007 and become fully untaxed in 2008. These provisions are set to expire on January 1, 2011.
Also, the bill explicitly encourages longer-term investing:
The lower rates apply to assets held for more than one year.