Steven Holt: “the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is a terrible burden on middle class taxpayers and the middle class should be excluded…”

“the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is a terrible burden on middle class taxpayers and the middle class should be excluded from the AMT. Once again, however, the Republican leadership is using budget gimmicks to hide the real cost of their tax cut and doing nothing to offset it. While the proposed AMT relief bill carries an official cost of $17 billion, its actual long-term costs are much higher: $549 billion over ten years, or $658 billion if the added interest costs on the national debt are taken into account. Indeed, by proposing a one-year ``fix'' to a perpetual problem, H.R. 4227 purposefully obscures not just the long-term cost of AMT reform. Ignoring these long-term costs irresponsibly undermines our ability to adequately plan for the future. It costs the future generation, as well as the present economy. More unpaid-for tax cuts will not only jeopardize critical public services now, but they will also hurt Americans well into the future. Massive deficits now create large debt and high interest payments that will crowd out spending on public investments for future generations. Moreover, these deep deficits threaten to increase interest rates in the future--making it harder for Americans to buy homes and afford higher education, and making it harder for business to raise capital. This is why I support the Democratic alternative to relieve the burden of the AMT on middle class taxpayers.”