Chuck Grassley: “Those checks represented the first broad-based tax relief in nearly a generation. Generally, single taxpayers got a $300…”

“Those checks represented the first broad-based tax relief in nearly a generation. Generally, single taxpayers got a $300 check and married couples got a $600 check. What I would like to do today is first put the tax cut in historical context. Second, I would like to set the record straight in terms of the progressivity of the tax relief and its budget effects. Finally, I would like to illustrate what the tax relief legislation means in terms of typical families across America. I am going to use a series of charts as I move through the discussion. Let's start with historical context. In the last 20 years, there have been several pieces of major tax legislation. When I use the term major, I am referring to net tax hikes or net tax cuts in the neighborhood of $100 billion or more. In the last generation, frankly, the American taxpayer has come out on the short end of the deal. By and large, the tax-and-spend Washington crowd prevailed. There have been four major tax increase bills. There have been three major tax cut bills, with one of those, the 1997 tax relief package, barely breaking into the major category.”