Jones Votes to Stop Tax Increases

Press Release

Yesterday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) voted for H.R. 4853, which would extend the Bush tax cuts for all Americans. The bill passed by a vote of 277 to 148. Congressman Jones joined Republican Leader John Boehner, Republican Whip Eric Cantor and nearly 80% of his Republican colleagues in voting for H.R. 4853. The bill has already been approved by the U.S. Senate and now goes to the President to be signed into law.

Without the bill, every single U.S. taxpayer would get a massive tax hike starting January 1, 2011. The average U.S. family would be forced to annually pay $2,000 more in taxes. Middle class families would lose roughly $100 a week out of their paychecks to increased tax withholding. In total, Americans would pay $3.8 trillion more in taxes unless these tax cuts are extended.

"The last thing the American economy needs is a huge tax increase on each and every taxpayer in this country," said Congressman Jones. "Preventing a tax increase on all Americans is an essential element of getting this country back on track."

While Congressman Jones does not believe the bill is perfect, the Republican leadership of the House and Senate is on record as saying that with President Obama still in power and with continued Democrat control of the Senate, it is highly questionable whether a better deal could be passed and signed into law next year. Given the state of the economy and the universal recognition of the devastating impact that tax hikes would have on job creation, Jones and the strong majority of his Republican colleagues believed that voting for this bill was, on balance, the best available choice for America.

Congressman Jones is joined in his support of H.R. 4853 by a wide variety of conservative, pro-taxpayer, business, manufacturing and farming groups. Of particular note, FreedomWorks -- the grassroots conservative group founded by Dick Armey and instrumental in the creation of the Tea Party movement -- supported this bill. Their letter urging support for the legislation can be found here. Americans for Tax Reform, National Taxpayers Union, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses, National Association of Manufacturers and American Farm Bureau are some of the many other groups also backing H.R. 4853.

Ultimately, Congressman Jones is hopeful that passage of this bill can be used as a stepping stone to more fundamental reform of the IRS and the badly broken U.S. tax code. He is optimistic that will be one of the items at the top of the agenda in the next Congress.

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