Political Quotes

“I know there are many who dismiss the President's proposal of the so-called Buffett rule as an election year tactic which has no chance of being enacted. But, for me, it must be taken as a serious proposal because it touches important economic principles at a very difficult economic time for our country. Although I was unable to be present for this afternoon's vote, I would have voted against the motion to proceed to the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012, S. 2230, and I want to explain why. I am not opposed to the Buffett rule because I am opposed to raising income taxes on the wealthiest Americans. I am opposed to the Buffett rule because it would double to 30 percent the capital gains tax on one group of investors and therefore reduce exactly the kind of capital investments we need to get our economy growing again and create jobs. To protect America from being drowned in public debt we will eventually have to raise revenues, hopefully through broad tax reform, and, of course, we will also have to cut expenditures, particularly the rate of increased spending on so-called entitlement programs. But that is different from the question of how to tax gains on capital investments. I have long believed in the value of having a lower tax on capital gains than on regular income because capital investments are one of the engines that has driven this great economy of ours, made us the land of opportunity, and created the American middle class.…”