Jack Kingston: “we are continuing right now the very important budget negotiation process. One thing that the Republican Party stands…”

“we are continuing right now the very important budget negotiation process. One thing that the Republican Party stands firm on is that we have to meet our Social Security/ Medicare obligations. Last year our budget's first priority was to put aside $1.9 trillion for Social Security and Medicare. The second step is debt reduction. Last year, we put aside $2 trillion for debt reduction. And then after those three things have happened, and only after those three things happened, was there a trigger for tax relief. This year we passed the marriage tax penalty because it is not fair that if you live with each other you pay less taxes than if you are married. We passed that out of the House. We hope the Senate will pass it, and we hope the President will not veto it as he already has promised to do. But the second part of that tax relief for tax fairness is to say to a senior, if you are working, you should not be penalized on your Social Security, because people are living longer, the needs are greater, and people need to work and want to work. It is healthy. There are lots of benefits to it. But if they do make this decision, they should not be penalized under Social Security. The Republican Party will be having this bill in committee today. I hope we get it on the floor soon and pass it so that the Senate can.”