Susan Collins: “Mr. Speaker, I hear the word ``target,'' let us ``target.'' The Tax Code targets everyone who works and earns a check or…”

“Mr. Speaker, I hear the word ``target,'' let us ``target.'' The Tax Code targets everyone who works and earns a check or earns an income. So when we talk about relief, we should also look at everyone who works and earns an income, whether they be employed or self-employed. The purpose of the marriage penalty relief bill is to try to establish some fairness in a Tax Code that many people feel is unfair, that many people and almost all of us know is very complex and is very costly to the individual to abide by. So what we were trying to do here and we were successful in the bill but we were not successful with the President's signature was to establish a standard deduction that is equal and fair to each individual, whether they are single or whether they are married. A single person has a $4,400 deduction. We were creating a $8,800 deduction for a married couple rather than current law that is about $7,300. We were taking the approach that the first dollars earned as adjusted gross income, whether it be single or whether an individual or a couple be filing as a married couple, that the first dollars earned would be subject to the 15-percent tax rate. For a single individual, the first $26,000 would be subject to the 15-percent rate. And I am using round numbers. For a couple, the first $52,000 would be subject to the 15-percent bracket. Equal. Fairness. There is nothing wrong with that.”