Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendment to House Amendment to Senate Amendment to H.R. 4853, Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the rule and the underlying bill.

I am very excited that President Obama has demonstrated that he believes in keeping taxes low for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, you know, as I talk to people in my district and across the country, people like the fact that the Democrats are the party of staying out of their personal business, that we are not doing the moralizing of how they should live their lives--live your own life; make your own decisions--that we are the party of personal accountability and of personal responsibility. Yet they're always concerned in the back of their minds that the Democrats are going to raise their taxes. That is something I always hear.

Oh, I like the Democrats because of the liberty issues, but you know, I always worry they're going to raise my taxes.

Well, I am proud to say that we are conclusively proving here today that the Democratic Party is the party of low taxes and that President Obama has a strong pro-growth agenda to keep taxes low for all Americans.

Let me add, by the way, that this tax cut that we are supporting today most benefits middle class Americans. They receive the true benefit from this tax cut. Families making $40,000 a year receive about a 7 percent rate reduction through this act. For families making $60,000 a year, it's 6.1 percent, all the way up to families making $10 million at 4.6 percent.

So this is a progressive tax cut for America. It is one that puts money into the hands of middle class families, who are those who need it the most. They're the families making $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 a year. To tell families making $50,000 a year that they somehow need to come up with $800 or $1,000 more a year in taxes when they're not getting raises is going to put them out of their homes. They're struggling to make mortgage payments as it is.

Mr. Speaker, in my district, there are a few people making over $1 million. Many of them say, You can raise my taxes. It won't affect my quality of life. But for the people who need it the most, the people making $40,000, $50,000, $60,000, $90,000 a year, who are struggling to get by--a kid in college--who are struggling to make their mortgage payments, this bill and President Obama have delivered tax relief to them.

In addition, in the midst of a recession, we cannot allow unemployment insurance to run out. Over 2,500 people a week in my home State of Colorado, if we don't act today and renew unemployment insurance, will lose their benefits--again, worsening the housing crisis, reducing the ability of their continuing to make their mortgage or rent payments, and forcing them to become liabilities rather than assets.

We will get them back to work, Mr. Speaker, especially with this pro-growth set of tax cuts that will encourage investment in our economy. We will get these Americans back to work, and we will ensure that everybody someday has the honor of paying at a higher tax bracket.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, this tax cut that President Obama and the Republicans and Democrats are delivering here today will encourage solid growth in our economy by keeping taxes low and by giving some predictability over a 2-year period so people can make investments and know that the government is not coming in to take their money but will let them keep their money to reinvest in the economy.

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