Pete Stark: “I oppose H. Con. Res. 312, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the scheduled tax relief provided…”

“I oppose H. Con. Res. 312, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the scheduled tax relief provided for by H.R. 1836, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, should not be suspended or repealed. I oppose the resolution before us today for the same reasons I opposed H.R. 1836 last summer. It's the wrong tax cut at the wrong time. The wealthiest ten percent of U.S. taxpayers reap the greatest benefit from the tax cut. The tax cut is so costly that the President is willing to imperil Social Security and Medicare by using revenue from the Trust Funds to pay for the tax cut. I am not willing to weaken the foundations of retirement security in order to pay for a bloated tax cut that benefits the wealthy. Nor am I willing to compromise on a Medicare prescription drug benefit. The bottom line is, there is only a limited amount of revenue coming into the federal government. By passing last year's tax cut, the Republican Congress put a premium on tax cuts for the wealthy while making retirement security, seniors, education, and our children, a lower priority. Last January, the 10-year surplus (2002-2011) estimate was $5.6 trillion. In one year, that surplus decreased $4 trillion. Certainly the events of September 11 and the fledgling economy contributed to some of this decrease. However, forty percent of that decrease can be attributed to the Republican income tax cut passed last summer.”