Mark Udall: “I've been trying to figure out just what this bill really is, and I've got it narrowed down to two choices. Either this…”

“I've been trying to figure out just what this bill really is, and I've got it narrowed down to two choices. Either this is a belated April Fool's prank or it's the scariest thing since last Halloween. The idea that Congress would repeal all federal income, estate and gift and excise tax laws without a plan for how to replace them sounds like a joke. But for anybody who's trying to plan, it's not funny. How can a company decide whether to make a multi-year investment if it doesn't know what will be the basis for future tax laws? How can people decide how to invest for their retirement if they don't know what Congress might decide to do about the tax status of their investments? If the sponsors of this bill are serious--and they are asking us to assume that they are--then they are being remarkably careless. If they aren't serious--and it's tempting to treat this as a joke--then they seem pretty irresponsible. Either way, this is not the kind of legislation that we should be debating today or any day. But, here it is and we do have to vote. So, I will support the motion to recommit because it would at least fill in some of the blanks in the bill. It would spell out that any replacement for the income and excise tax laws has to be fiscally responsible and not endanger Social Security or Medicare. It would require that the replacement taxes emphasize simplicity and be fair to people at all income levels.”