On the recordApril 14, 2010
Mr. Speaker, this is a fine bill, and on face value there are some good elements to the bill. Let me give you a kind of behind-the-curtain look, though, at what could have been. There was an amendment that was offered in the Ways and Means Committee that I thought was thoughtful. What it was trying to do was ultimately create a sense of fairness for families that find themselves being bumped up into tax brackets just sort of through inflation, essentially. I offered an amendment that would have had the Office of Management and Budget determine the spending growth rate by comparing the previous 2 years' nonsecurity discretionary spending without regard to whether spending was offset. In a nutshell, it would have insulated families and taxpayers from being boosted up into what is known as 'bracket creep.' Now, there are some folks that say, well, all this would do is accelerate deficits and create more of a problem, but if the Federal Government simply lived within its means and followed what President Obama is proposing as it relates to the capping and freezing of nondiscretionary spending, then we wouldn't have this type of problem. And so, like all speakers I think today were speaking in favor of this bill, but my sense is that we can do better. So my hope, my expectation, and my heartfelt desire is to have a sense of protection, Mr. Speaker, for taxpayers. I think this bill is a little bit of a swing and a miss.
