Rep. Calvert Votes Against Misguided Democrat Tax and Budget Bills

Press Release

Yesterday Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA) voted against the Conference Report on S. Con. Res. 70, the Democratic Concurrent Budget Resolution, and H.R. 6049, the Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008.

"The Democratic Leadership seems to have forgotten Economics 101: requiring pay-as-you-go rules on current law, which H.R. 6049 does, will require a tax increase," stated Rep. Calvert. "Increased taxes will restrict spending in the market place which will fuel higher unemployment. This is not a ‘job creation' bill, it's a job ending bill. "

H.R. 6049, the Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, requires Congress pay for extension of current tax law. While the bill includes important tax extensions and tax breaks - such as the research and development credit; the deduction for state and local sales taxes, the standard deduction for real property taxes, and others - it requires Congress pay for the extensions, which would most likely result in a tax hike. The bill also fails to address the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) which means that for 2008, middle-class individuals and families will pay an additional $61.5 billion in taxes.

"Congress should not be shifting around money by extending some tax breaks while ensuring that future tax hikes will be necessary in order to feed a dangerous spending habit," said Rep. Calvert. "The American people should have certainty in the tax code and that means keeping taxes low and providing a permanent fix to the AMT. Congress needs to kick its spending habit, provide meaningful entitlement reform and start paying down the debt."

The Democratic Concurrent Budget Resolution:

* Raises taxes by at least $683 billion over the next 5 years. These include increases in marginal tax rates; elimination of the 10-percent bracket for lower-income taxpayers; higher taxes on marriage, children, small businesses, and estates; and higher tax rates on investments. The tax hikes occur for two reasons.

o Required by PAYGO. The budget operates under the Democrats' pay-as-you-go [PAYGO] rule, which requires capturing the full $683 billion in additional revenue from these tax increases.
o The Trigger. If they waive their PAYGO rule, the budget still contains a "trigger" that requires these tax increases unless surpluses are large enough to offset them.

* Higher Taxes Feed Higher Spending. The Majority's budget needs these tax increases to support its alarming spending increases: more Than $1 trillion in Discretionary Spending. The conference report increases discretionary spending by $21 above the President's request, pushing it above $1 trillion for 2009. This translates to a spending increase of $241 billion when extended over 5 years.

* Entitlements Continue on Automatic Pilot. This budget does nothing to address the growing entitlement problem. Medicare and Social Security alone currently face $40 billion in unfunded liabilities, and that figure is growing unchecked every year.

Source