Rick Allen: “Mr. Speaker, we need to reduce the marriage penalty, and do it this year, but to vote this week for this irresponsible…”

“Mr. Speaker, we need to reduce the marriage penalty, and do it this year, but to vote this week for this irresponsible Republican proposal would be a huge mistake. About half of the married couples in this country pay a marriage penalty, but the other half get a marriage bonus. The Republican plan is not directed just at those who pay the marriage penalty, it is a grab bag of goodies weighted to the top one-quarter percent of income earners. It would make it much harder for us to pay down the national debt, to provide a prescription drug benefit for seniors, to improve our schools, or to strengthen social security and Medicare. The Democratic alternative doubles the standard deduction for married couples, expands the earned income tax credit, and, unlike the Republican plan, protects families from the harmful effects of the alternative minimum tax. The Republican bill is estimated to cost $182 billion over 10 years. The Democratic alternative would provide $95 billion of tax relief targeted more precisely to reduce the marriage penalty and to those middle-income taxpayers who need relief the most. Real marriage penalty relief and true fiscal discipline are only available in the Democratic alternative.”