The Democratic Majority

THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY -- (House of Representatives - January 29, 2007)

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague from Texas for taking control of the time. I have got a bad wheel, but I did not want to miss this. I think it is so important.

I want to start off by just echoing your sentiments about what happened here in the capital this week. I mean, a bunch of anarchists, they pushed forward on the Capitol Police, as you said, and the Capitol Hill Police let them come through and deface the United States Capitol.

And I heard that they were saying, that they were chanting it was their right to. But they have no right to deface the United States Capitol. This belongs to all of the Americans. And nobody has a right to do what they had to. I really want to know, and I hope there is an investigation, there should be an investigation to find out why the Capitol Hill Police did not resist them, and you know the party that is in the majority needs to answer, needs to stand up and be held accountable, because they are in charge, they are the ones that are giving the instructions to the Capitol Hill Police.

I want to know if the majority party said, we do not want you to confront them; let them do whatever they want to do. Because it is outrageous. And all Americans that are watching tonight, I do not know how widely it has been reported. I have heard a few reports. But, you know, it should have made top news that a group of anarchists spray painted their symbols on the Capitol. I heard the report was that there was no incident. Well, there should have been an incident. There should have been an extreme incident of resistance by the Capitol Hill Police to not allow someone to deface what I consider, this is the crown of America, this is the people's House and nobody should ever be allowed to do that. So I am outraged by it.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, some of them have given their lives up to protect this building and Members of Congress. I agree with you, I cannot imagine that they did not get orders to stand down from the highest level.

Once again, the party in the majority runs this place. They need to be held accountable. They need to stand up and say what they did do, what they did not do. But in the future, if there are going to be, I am certain there will be, as there has been throughout our history, protests throughout the capital, and people have a right, absolutely have a right to protest, but they do not have a right to do it violently; they do not have a right to deface property that belongs to all of the taxpayers. So the questions need to be asked and we need to have answers from the majority party.

Back again to why, the main reason we are here tonight, is to talk about the 1,433 days from now, if the majority, the Democrats in Congress, do not act over the next 4 years, or 1,433 days, we are going to see an over-$200 billion tax increase on Americans, on the American family, on small businesses.

And that is going to significantly hurt this economy. And you just have to look at the facts. Over the last 4 years, 7.2 million jobs were created in this country because of those tax cuts. Just in December, 167,000 jobs were created. The unemployment rate at 4.5 percent, the lowest average it has been in five decades.

If we do not extend them, if we do not do what is responsible, then money, real dollars are going to come out of the American people's pocket. A family of four, making in the $40,000 range, they are going to see a tax increase of about $2,000.

Now, to some in this body, $2,000 may not seem like a lot of money, but it is to a hardworking American family. $2,000 is a nice down payment on a new car, $2,000 will buy you a new washer and a dryer. $2,000 helps you put your son or daughter or yourself through college or to get educated or trained on something.

So I hope that the American people that are watching tonight, whether you are Republican, you are a Democrat, there are lessons for us all through history, recent history, on why tax cuts work, why they are a good thing for the economy, why Americans should be allowed to keep their hard-earned dollars. You have to go back to the 1960s.

President Kennedy, he cut taxes. What did he see? The economy came on strong. Revenues to the Federal Government increased dramatically. We saw that in 1980. And today we are seeing it at record levels. As the gentleman from Oklahoma pointed out, there are a lot of things in this economy that are happening because of those tax cuts, and we need to make sure that they continue.

It is startling to me. Although, I watched and was obviously very keenly aware of what the Democrats were saying during the last campaign. And the first thing that they basically said, when you listen to the incoming chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he basically told the American people that he did not see one of those tax cuts that really had merit and that everything was on the table. So the American people should not be surprised when they see these tax cuts.

And just 11 days ago was the first Democratic tax increase. They changed the rules of the House to make it a simple majority. When we put it in place as the majority party, it had to be three-fifths of votes to increase taxes. They made it a simple majority, because they knew how difficult it is going to be to get a majority in this House to raise taxes on the American people.

So, once again, if we don't stand up and fight, and I hope my Democratic colleagues who aren't here tonight, the Blue Dogs who come down and talk about fiscal responsibilities, if they don't join with us to fight these tax cuts, they are going to take part in this huge tax increase that is going to occur on the American people. So I appreciate the gentleman tonight hosting this hour.

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Mr. SHUSTER. I don't know if this is accurate or not, but I have heard people talking that the CR is going to come to the floor and it is going to look like an omnibus bill. And you know, an omnibus is like a Christmas tree; they hang everything on it that they want to get through. But that is the rumors that are swirling around here, that it is not just going to be just a CR, it is going to be an omnibus. And that is going to be bad for spending, and they are not living up to their word.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to relate two stories that I came across concerning these tax cuts.

Jim Tracy from Shelbyville, Tennessee, who is the owner of a small insurance agency, he said because of the tax cuts, he was able to use the $7,200 that he would have otherwise spent on taxes, and he bought seven new computers for his business and he hired a fourth employee. That is just one of many.

There is another story here. Kenneth Leupp of Archbold Refuse Service in Archbold, Ohio, he says, ``The tax cuts, changes in depreciation schedules and increases in dollar amount we can expense off are very welcome changes. We have made purchases we wouldn't have made under the old laws. We've saved money on taxes, increased efficiency, lowered maintenance costs, and helped stimulate the economy.'

Those are just two of thousands and thousands of experiences out there because of these tax cuts. Our purpose here tonight, although I may be repeating myself, I know that people watching C-SPAN tune in and out, but I just want to remind them that in 1,443 days, it is the countdown to the Democratic tax increase. All they have to do is run the clock out. They don't even have to act on them.

So on January 1, 2011, there will be a $200 billion tax increase to the American people. The death tax will expire, capitol gains tax, tax on dividends will expire in January of 2009. A record number of Americans are invested in the stock market with mutual funds and retirement funds. The child tax credit will be cut in half over the next couple of years. The marriage penalty will be back in place, and low-income taxpayers will go from a 10 percent tax bracket to a 15 percent tax bracket if we don't act.

The American people need to be aware of this. And in less than 4 years, if they don't communicate to their Members of Congress that they want to see these tax cuts extended, their voices need to be heard.

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