Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I have to answer some of the comments made earlier by the Republican leader as he talked about the state of negotiations between the President and Congress as we face the fiscal cliff. He said at one point that the President is calling for raising taxes $1.6 trillion. That is true. But I would call to his attention that the Simpson-Bowles Commission suggested that 40 percent of the $4 trillion in deficit reduction comes from revenue and taxes. What the President is suggesting is entirely consistent with that bipartisan group's call for more revenue and taxes as part of our deficit reduction. The President has made it clear, though, that he wants to protect and insulate middle-income families from any income tax increases, and I agree with him. We should not raise the income taxes on those making less than $250,000 a year. I voted that way in July. We sent the bill to the House. It sits there. It languishes in the House because the Speaker will not call it. He has his chance this week or next to call that bill on the floor of the House of Representatives to avoid any tax increase on middle-income families. That is an important bill for us to get done before we leave at the end of this particular session of Congress. Let me say that $1.6 trillion in taxes over 10 years is not an unreasonable amount. The tax rate the President is asking for is the rate that was in place during the expansive period in our economy under President Bill Clinton.…”