RSC Takes on Democrats’ Trillion Dollar Tax Increase
Rangel’s “Mother of All Tax Hikes” Bill is “One Bad Mother”
Washington,
Oct 25, 2007 -
Republican Study Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), RSC Budget and Spending Task Force Chair John Campbell (R-CA), RSC Communications Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and RSC Whip Scott Garrett (R-NJ) today issued the following statements after Ways & Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) introduced legislation that will raise taxes on hard working Americans by over $1.3 trillion:
Hensarling Statement:
“Congressman Rangel is absolutely correct that the tax system needs reform – the problem is that he wants to reform it to help Washington instead of taxpayers. Contrary to Democrats’ wishes, you don’t help taxpayers by raising their taxes.
“The debate over repeal of the AMT is going to be about who is entitled to the $841 billion that Americans will be forced to pay if it remains untouched. Republicans are trying to prevent a massive tax increase, and that is the crux of the debate – one side is with the taxpayer and the other with the government. Our side will put the taxpayer first, their side is going to put the government first.
That is why the Republican Study Committee has introduced the Taxpayer Choice Act, which will fully repeal the AMT while providing taxpayers the choice and opportunity to become part of a 21st Century tax system that is fair, simple, efficient and, above all, accountable.”
“Republicans disagree with the premise that taxpayers must be forced to pay more to repeal a bad policy. We disagree with Democrats in the House who want to pick and choose certain groups of taxpayers to be penalized for Washington’s mistake. The AMT was never intended to be forced upon middle-class American families, and our priority is to ensure that it never will. Democrats say that AMT reform must be revenue neutral, and our reform is revenue neutral – to the taxpayer.
Campbell Statement:
“Charlie Rangel will tell you that his bill is revenue neutral, and that the RSC proposal is a tax cut. But that’s from the perspective of Washington. From the perspective of the American taxpayer, Rangel’s proposal is a huge increase on most taxpayers, and the RSC alternative will keep taxes about where they are today.”
Blackburn Statement:
“Everyone knows that the Federal government doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. The Democrat led ‘Hold onto Your Wallet’ Congress is once again telling the American taxpayer that they don't pay enough in taxes.
Last year, four million families were forced to pay the AMT, compared to as many as 23 million middle-class households in 2007, at a cost of an estimated $2,000 in additional taxes per family. Chairman Rangel's AMT reform plan doesn't cut taxes; it simply shifts the tax burden from one line on the form to another. This is wrong. The American taxpayer has suffered enough at the whim of the tax and spenders.”
Garrett Statement:
“This year the Democrats have already introduced the largest tax increase in American history, demonstrating utter disregard for our hard-working taxpayers. Now they want to reach deeper into the pockets of the American family to feed their addictive tax and spend habits. This destructive legislating must be stopped. It's a real shame that the Democrats seem to be proud that their bill is called the mother of all tax bills.
“The outdated and onerous AMT disproportionately hurts the middle class and nation. It must be reformed but not by a party that seeks to punish hard work and prosperity to feed its excessive spending. I have joined several of my colleagues to introduce a commonsense approach to providing fair and significant tax relief to the middle class, working Americans. The Taxpayers Choice Act actually helps our nation’s families and doesn’t burden them and their children with debt. Americans have paid drastically high taxes for far too long. It’s time that someone in Washington is looking out for them and their pocketbooks.”
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The Republican Study Committee has introduced The Taxpayer Choice Act, a comprehensive, individual income tax reform initiative with two principal goals:
1. eliminating massive future tax increases by repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax; and;
2. providing individuals a choice for an alternative tax system that is transparent, simple and efficient.
The AMT was created in 1969 by Congress to target 155 people who were eligible for tax benefits that resulted in their paying little or no federal income tax. Today, the "tax-the-rich" policy intended to penalize 155 people has spiraled so out of control that, if ignored in the next few months, it will hit 25 million hard-working middle class American families. In 1999, the GOP-controlled Congress passed a full repeal of the AMT, which President Bill Clinton swiftly vetoed.
Unlike any other AMT reforms offered to date, the RSC plan will not increase taxes for ANY American and will retain a fair and equitable distribution of federal tax burdens. The RSC plan offers a choice: taxpayers can choose the new system or stay with the current tax code. They have the freedom to select the option that best suits their particular circumstances.
