Statement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on the Tax Reconciliation Bill of 2006
The Tax Reconciliation bill in its total represents a fiscally unsound and unbalanced package that will mostly benefit the wealthiest Americans. Indeed, under this bill, the average millionaire will receive an additional $42,000 tax cut while middle income Americans will see an average of $20.
It is clear that we have missed a tremendous opportunity to build on the bipartisan tax bill that passed the Senate earlier this year. We could have provided greater Alternative Minimum Tax relief, extended the college tuition deduction, or extended the research and development tax credit. Indeed, we have missed an opportunity to extend the scope and life of the refundable child credit or extend the lowered tax rates for the middle class which will help working families. And it is unfortunate that this bill keeps the billions of dollars of tax breaks for oil companies intact even as they continue to report record breaking profits while Americans are coping with staggering fuel prices.
I wholeheartedly support the AMT relief provisions included in this bill and wrote to the Chairman of the Finance Committee for an even stronger AMT fix. The AMT is a growing problem in New York and throughout the country and it was my wish with this bill to build upon the bipartisan consensus to implement a long term solution for this problem.
Nevertheless, I cannot support an additional $50 billion for providing even more tax cuts to the wealthiest among us. I cannot support bestowing even more benefits on the fortunate when the middle class continues to struggle with rising gasoline, health care, education and housing costs.
Indeed, it has been only several months since the President signed into law the largest cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and the student loan program in history that put new burdens on our seniors, our college students and the poorest among us. As the President put pen to paper, the White House and the Republicans in Congress told those people that their sacrifice was necessary to bring the budget deficit under control. As the President, with the support of the Republicans in Congress, placed these new hardships on our seniors and working poor, he said that our fiscal condition "demanded difficult choices" and that his actions were necessary to make our economy "secure for our children and our grandchildren." But we knew then as we know now this difficult choice merely helped finance even more tax cuts for the wealthy on the backs of the most vulnerable and in most need. Instead of making our economy secure for our children and grandchildren, we will be giving them a $9 trillion debt.
Moreover, it has been just a few short weeks since Congress voted to raise the national debt limit to $9 trillion. It was my hope that such a vote would convince the Republicans to choose a more fiscally responsible agenda by offering rational and pragmatic policies that would make smart investments in our workforce, our students, our infrastructure and take real steps to address our fiscal health. It was my hope that they would pay attention to the consequences created by their deficit-financed tax cuts and the burdens being created for future generations in the form of trillions of dollars of debt.
Unfortunately, those hopes have fallen short. In a time of war, at a time of the four largest budget deficits in the history of this country, at a time when the U.S. is the most indebted nation in the world, and at a time when the middle class continues to be squeezed by stagnant wages and increased costs of living, the Republicans have once again embraced a shortsighted vision for our country's future.
http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=255465&&