Victor Fazio: “if the 1996 elections told this Congress anything, it was to work together in a bipartisan fashion. In my district in…”

“if the 1996 elections told this Congress anything, it was to work together in a bipartisan fashion. In my district in California and throughout the Nation Americans told us to put aside differences and provide a tax cut that makes sense. Unfortunately, the Republicans who crafted their tax bill turned a deaf ear to the American people, to the President, and certainly to those of us on this side of the aisle. Instead, they chose to listen to the special interests that had inordinate influence in the way the campaigns were conducted. Just look at their tax bill. The American people want education tax credits to make college affordable. Instead, what do they get? Not much for education, but large cuts in the capital gains tax for the wealthiest Americans, not just the farmers and small business people who build a business and deserve to sell it for retirement. Americans want affordable child care, but what do they get instead? A bill that denies the $500 per child tax credit to 15 million families who work hard to make ends meet. Americans want the middle class to get tax relief and corporations to pay their fair share. But what do they get instead, in this bill? A proposal to wipe out the alternative minimum tax, which would allow the largest corporations in America to not pay a dime in taxes. Remember, this debate is not about whether we should cut taxes, it is about who gets the benefits.”