Providing for Consideration of H.R. 4351, AMT Relief Act of 2007

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4351, AMT RELIEF ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - December 12, 2007)

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Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I would just like to respond briefly to some of the assertions made a few minutes ago under which the Clinton administration was attacked for supposedly not correcting the alternative minimum tax problem.

I want to read from the administration's statement when the President vetoed the budget reconciliation bill, which contained the so-called AMT fix. The President pointed out at the time that in addition to supposedly dealing with the alternative minimum tax, that that bill would have cut Medicare by $270 billion, it would have cut Federal Medicaid payments to States by $163 billion, it would have virtually eliminated the direct student loan program, it would have provided huge tax cuts, over 47 percent of the benefits would have gone to the top 12 percent of earners in the country. I think that's enough said.

If you want to understand why the Clinton administration vetoed the bill, it was not because they were against an alternative minimum tax fix. In fact, the President specifically supported it in his comments. What he objected to was using the alternative minimum tax proposal as a Trojan horse to bring in huge gifts for the most well off people in this society paid for by huge funding cuts for those in our society who were the most vulnerable. The President didn't apologize for his action at the time, and we shouldn't, either. It was the right thing to do.

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