Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask my colleague this: I was reading a national publication yesterday, and the headline is ``Making Nightmare Out Of Health Care.'' It says taxes will go up. This also says the proposed overhaul contains, at last count, 13 different tax hikes. It goes on to say the Joint Tax Committee said that for any one person who may end up paying lower taxes, there will be nearly four times as many--close to 70 million people--who will pay higher taxes.

That is why I have been waiting for a week now to vote for the Crapo motion. This was introduced last Tuesday. A whole week has passed, and the Democrats have been filibustering and preventing us from voting on this very important amendment, which the American people agree with--that we ought to eliminate these taxes and stick with what the President promised the American people.

As a result of the President's promises, I read a recent CNN poll. It says that 61 percent of Americans oppose this bill the Democrats are proposing. It gets to the specific question of tax increases and the President's promise. It says:

Do you think your taxes would or would not increase if this bill passes?

And 85 percent of the Americans polled said they believe their taxes will go up.

I ask my friend from Idaho--it seems to me the American people get it; they realize they are going to be hit hard with this $500 billion of tax increases, 13 different taxes, which will get put on the backs of the hard-working people of our country.

Why is it that we are not allowed to vote on this motion? I will vote for it. I appreciate the Senator from Idaho bringing this motion forward because, clearly, the support of the American people is behind him.

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Mr. BARRASSO. The Senator from Idaho had a picture of a woman making $50,000 and the health benefits that resulted. My concern is not just her taxes; my concern is also her job. It is also a fact that she would still have a job.

What I hear from the people of Wyoming is: Don't raise my taxes, don't cut my Medicare, don't make matters worse than they are right now in this economy where we have 10-percent unemployment.

Like the Senator from South Dakota, I am a member of the National Federation of Independent Business. I have been a member for years. They are telling us that as these taxes are raised and collected in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, in 2010 we are going to lose 400,000 jobs in America, and in 2011 another 400,000, and another 400,000 after that, and another 400,000, as the taxes continue to be collected. So we would be losing in this country 1.6 million jobs as a result of these increased taxes all Americans are going to have to pay.

I ask the Senator from Idaho, isn't it even more critical that we pass his motion in addition to the fact that we do not want these taxes? They are going to hurt our economy across the board.

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