Chuck Grassley: “it is very unfortunate that when it comes to issues of taxes that we see hand-wringing and we read editorials about who…”

“it is very unfortunate that when it comes to issues of taxes that we see hand-wringing and we read editorials about who is receiving the benefits of a reduction in taxes or, in this case, who is going to have to face an increase in taxes because that is what this is all about, preventing an automatic increase in taxes if we don't do anything. With the AMT, the alternative minimum tax, it is going to hit millions of families next year if we don't do something. We are going to have an increase in capital gains and dividends in a couple years if we don't take action today on this bill. We should think of this as a question of who is going to see an increase in taxes. That is why the title of this bill is so on point. The title of the bill is the ``Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act,'' and the key part of those many words is ``tax increase prevention.'' That is the key part of the title. That is what this bill is all about. This is not about cutting taxes further. How many times have we heard the words ``cutting taxes'' used on the floor of this body? What we are doing in this bill is making sure that people don't get an automatic tax increase because of sunset, and because Congress doesn't have guts enough to vote for a tax increase, they can stop legislation like this and have a tax increase and never have to be on record in favor of the tax increase. But we are not cutting taxes.…”