On the recordDecember 16, 2010
After much deliberation, I rise in opposition to today's legislation. To me, this has never been about the wisdom or necessity of compromise. Like most of my colleagues, I understand the need for compromise, and I fully appreciate the predicament the President found himself in. While Democrats have been fighting to ensure tax rates do not go up on 98% of Americans, Senate Republicans have made it abundantly clear they are willing to raise taxes on every American this January unless they get a bonus tax break for the wealthiest in our society--and provide a tax-cut bonanza to a handful of super-rich estates. In order to break the stalemate, the President concluded he needed a deal--a deal that had to balance two of our Nation's very real but competing imperatives: the need to accelerate economic growth, and the need to reduce our national debt. Some elements of today's legislation strike the right balance. In particular, the middle class tax cuts, unemployment benefits and Recovery Act credits for working families are both economically justifiable and likely to achieve their intended effect. Unfortunately, other provisions significantly miss the mark.
