WALLY HERGER: “we all know this bill is purely a political exercise. Congress will eventually pass an AMT patch that does not contain…”

“we all know this bill is purely a political exercise. Congress will eventually pass an AMT patch that does not contain permanent tax increases. All we are doing today is postponing final action and risking a repeat of last year's delay that created major headaches for taxpayers. I believe we shouldn't be expanding the federal government's share of the economy by pairing temporary extensions of tax relief with permanent tax increases. I've heard a number of concerns from small businesses about one of these offsets, a new reporting requirement for credit card transactions. Last week, when the Ways and Means Committee considered this bill, we were told by the Treasury Department that they have not done a cost-benefit analysis on this proposal. I fear we are going down the same road as we did two years ago with the 3 percent withholding requirement, which we've now learned will cost the government far more than it will raise in revenue. On top of that, this bill raises taxes on American energy producers. This does nothing to reduce gas prices--in fact, it will only make them higher. And there's simply no justification for a provision that penalizes U.S. producers but doesn't affect subsidiaries of foreign-owned firms. This legislation just doesn't make sense. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''”