Halt Tax Increases on the Middle Class and Seniors Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for his work in this House and for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, many words have been said on this floor about ObamaCare, about losing doctors and insurance, about losing jobs and hours at work, and about premium increases and deductibles so high it makes insurance nearly worthless.

Do you know what? It is all true. ObamaCare only makes worse two of the biggest problems holding America back: jobs and cost of living. For America to succeed, we need good-paying jobs for people to make ends meet, and we need costs for services like health care to be low enough so people can afford it.

I have spoken too many times, Mr. Speaker, on how ObamaCare is hurting job growth and keeping people from full employment. I wish I didn't have to keep talking about it, but as long as people continue to be hurt by this law, they need a voice. With insurers dropping out of the marketplace in droves, insurance premiums are going up, some by as much as 50 percent more than the year before.

On top of that, before ObamaCare, the rule was that if you spent 7.5 percent of your income on medical expenses, you could start deducting however much you paid above that from your taxes. The idea was that, if you are really sick, the last thing you need is government making your medical costs even more difficult.

Well, I am sure you will be surprised, but ObamaCare wasn't happy with lowering your taxes, so they moved it up. President Obama and the Democrats in this Congress that passed this terrible bill raised taxes on the sickest people in America, those who spend the most on medical expenses.

Now, I don't understand how they could accept this. I know they didn't read the bill before they passed it, but now they can try to do something about it. They can make one thing right. Martha McSally's bill today, part of the House's Better Way agenda, brings that threshold back down to where it was before, 7.5 percent.

Now, it doesn't solve the problem, but at least it gives the American people a break. Seniors and the middle class, those facing the highest medical bills, will all finally get some relief.

Frankly, Mr. Speaker, I don't see how anyone in this body can be against this. We all know ObamaCare is failing. We all know the American people and our country can't afford this law. So let's pass this bill and help those that need it the most.

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