Senator Webb Statement on Tax Votes

Statement

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) today issued the following statement regarding his votes to oppose the Democratic and Republican tax proposals:

"I agree with my Democratic colleagues about keeping current tax cuts in place for our lower and middle class workers. I would also keep them in place on all ordinary earned income. I voted against both proposals today because each would have resulted in higher taxes on the earned income of working Americans.

"My long belief has been that if we are going to raise taxes on income, that we ought to be doing so in the fairest place, and the fairest place is from passive income not earned income. Two-thirds of the money that is being made by the top 0.1 percent in this country--that's 140,000 taxpayers--is being made from passive income. Capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15 percent, a much lower rate than ordinary income.

"In addition to fixing the larger tax code and achieving balanced spending reductions, Congress should address this issue because it is creating the greatest disparity among our people."

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