Providing for Consideration of H.R. 3996, Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3996, TEMPORARY TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - November 09, 2007)

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Mr. DOGGETT. We are hearing the same old tired Republican borrow-and-spend rhetoric. They're all for our middle class tax relief and extension of important tax incentives; they just don't want to pay for it. They would rather borrow from our grandchildren. ``Borrow it, you'll like it.'' That's the misguided approach we've followed for 7 long years under this Bush administration. And look at the mess it has gotten us into: the dollar going down by the day, the specter of inflation and recession occurring at the same time. And now, because of our Democratic commitment to pay-as-you-go government, what we do in this bill is to reduce the revenues coming in by about $76 billion in mostly middle class tax relief over the next 5 years, and then replace those same revenues with another $76 billion.

It's balance. No new debt. And that is the type of fiscal responsibility that is anathema to our Republican colleagues and this administration. The best that they have been able to do is offer us more empty demands to just cut spending to pay for this legislation. President Bush sent his representative from the Treasury Department to our committee on this very bill, and we said, ``well, what specific spending cuts do you have to pay for this bill if you think that's the way to do it?'' And he scratched his head, and he couldn't think of a single spending cut, nor have our Republican colleagues sought any. Their approach is just more borrow and spend.

Let's be clear about it. Over the last 7 years, no one in this country has spoken louder about fiscal responsibility and cutting spending than President Bush, and no one in this country has done less about it.

Ole Rip Van Bush, he snoozed while the spending soared, and he just borrowed more and more with a happy face toward our children.

Today, we Democrats fulfill our pledge to stop making things worse so we eventually can be able to turn them

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around. A vote for this bill today is a vote for middle-class tax relief, and it is also a long overdue vote to repudiate this Republican fantasy.

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