On the recordAugust 1, 2012
I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, last week, I took part in a roundtable conversation in my district with over 20 small business leaders. They discussed the devastating impact that these looming tax hikes would have on job creation, not only across the country, but in Minnesota. The sentiment that was echoed throughout that entire conversation was that Washington should not be raising taxes when our economy is still struggling to recover. These job creators understand all too well what our country is facing as we approach, on January 1, this tax cliff, this fiscal cliff and this jobs cliff. The message from all of these entrepreneurs was simple: Job creators and business leaders alike were saying, very directly, stop the tax hike. Studies have shown that this looming tax hike would negatively impact half of all small business income, a loss of 700,000 jobs, potentially, and 14,500 of those jobs are in my home State of Minnesota, Mr. Speaker. But if we extend these rates and we move toward tax reform, we can have a positive impact on our economy of 1 million new jobs. Mr. Speaker, the choice is clear. With the national unemployment rate of over 8 percent for 41 consecutive months, we must stop the tax hike.
