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Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2007

Floor Speech

Date: Dec. 19, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Taxes Government Budget and Spending


TAX INCREASE PREVENTION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - December 19, 2007)

Speaker Pelosi: ``After years of historic deficits, this new Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: pay as you go.''

The majority leader, and I think he will be consistent and vote against this particular bill: ``Our budget strictly adheres to the pay-as-you-go budget rules that were reinstated in January by the new majority.''

Our distinguished chairman of the committee: ``You've got to offset those tax cuts.'' So on and so forth.

Well, here we are and we are going to pass this by waiving PAYGO.

Now let me make it very clear, I disagree with the majority's PAYGO. The majority's PAYGO says let's just keep raising taxes. Well, two wrongs don't make a right.

This tax was never meant to be. This is a new tax increase on top of the Tax Code. It was never intended in the first place. This ought to be repealed, period. So I don't agree with this notion that this tax increase ought to just be replaced with some other tax increase, and that's the majority's position. They want the revenue from the alternative minimum tax, they just don't want to raise it through that tax so they have a different tax increase. That is bad economic policy.

At a time when economists are telling us we might be headed for a recession, at a time when they are saying a slowdown is on the horizon, the last thing the American people and the economy need is a tax increase. That's why this is an important bill. We have big tax increases on the horizon.

The distinguished chairman of the Ways and Means Committee is proposing an enormous tax increase, $3.5 trillion. They are proposing to get rid of all of those tax cuts that got us out of recession in 2003 in the first place, and they are proposing not to repeal the AMT but to replace it with even higher taxes on workers and small businesses. That is the wrong economic recipe for America. The right one is keep taxes where they are and control spending.


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