Rep. Tom Allen: Americans Want Change; Republican Tax Cuts Are "More of the Same"

Rep. Tom Allen: Americans Want Change; Republican Tax Cuts Are "More of the Same"

"Who has the greatest need for tax relief, and who stands to gain the most from these tax cuts?"

U.S. Representative Tom Allen, a member of the House Budget Committee, today urged defeat of H.R. 4297, the conference report on the Republican tax reconciliation bill that extends capital gains and dividend tax cuts through 2010. The package will cost $70 billion over 5 years and continues a pattern of Republican fiscal irresponsibility which has driven the national debt to more than $8 trillion and the cost of interest on the debt to an average of more than $300 billion a year during the next decade.

"America faces daunting challenges: wars in Iraq and Afghanistan costing precious lives and draining our Treasury, a mountain of debt to pass on to future generations, a dangerous dependence on foreign oil driving up fuel costs, a health care system on life support, children and adults who need a good education to get a good job and small businesses struggling to compete in a global economy," Representative Allen said. "For five years, Republicans have offered only one answer: cut taxes. Those few Americans who are satisfied with the results and want more of the same will be pleased with today's vote. The rest of us Americans, those who want change, who want the nation to chart a new course, who want to restore fiscal order and who want our government to tackle these challenges will hear the new ideas and innovative solutions that I and other Democrats offer."

Representative Allen also denounced the continued inequity represented by this latest round of tax cuts.

"Once again, this is also a choice about fairness: who has the greatest need for tax relief and who stands to gain the most from these tax cuts," Representative Allen said. "Under this bill, Maine middle-class families with annual incomes of $50,000 or less will receive an average tax cut of $10 this year, about enough to buy the three gallons of gasoline needed to drive from Kittery to Augusta with $.50 left over to buy a can of Moxie. The CEOs of the big oil companies and others who make over $1 million a year will get $41,400, on average, enough to buy a new Lexus, keep its tank full for a year and still have more than $4,000 left over to take that much-needed vacation getaway."

http://tomallen.house.gov/article.asp?id=581