On the recordDecember 16, 2010
I am pleased to have worked with Congressman Pomeroy and Chairman Levin and others on the amendment that we're going to be voting on later tonight. While this House recently passed, and Democrats have been fighting, to ensure that tax rates do not go up on 98 percent of the American people, Senate Republicans made it clear that they will raise, that they will raise taxes on every American if they don't get a special bonus tax break for the very top 2 percent. In order to break that stalemate, President Obama concluded he needed to cut a deal. What this amendment we will be voting on later tonight does is give the American people a better deal. Specifically, it asks all of us to consider this question: In an era of $1 trillion deficits, with our national debt approaching $14 trillion, barely 2 weeks after the bipartisan fiscal commission's 'Moment of Truth' report, should we really be borrowing $23 billion from China to give the wealthiest 6,600 estates an average tax break of $1.7 million a year? Think about it: $23 billion for the wealthiest 6,600 estates a year, at a time of fiscal challenge, in a Nation of over 300 million people, without any benefit for job creation or economic growth.
