Kenny Hulshof: “I continue to be puzzled by this cowering in the shadow of the other body. Last night we heard that we could not try to…”

“I continue to be puzzled by this cowering in the shadow of the other body. Last night we heard that we could not try to make some genuine changes to campaign finance reform because we might somehow fall out of favor with the other body. Mr. Speaker, have we relinquished our constitutional authority over to unanimous consent requests? I think what I would like to say, first of all, is to set the record straight on the AMT, on the alternative minimum tax. This bill, just like the one in December, does not repeal the alternative minimum tax that corporations must pay. We do, however, make some crucial reforms in the AMT to maximize the impact of, for instance, the bonus depreciation investment incentives. Let me just talk about a real-life story to the gentleman from California who says that this stimulus bill would just help corporations. Recently the St. Louis business community was sent reeling with news that Ford announced a closure of a plant in Hazelwood, Missouri. About 3,000 workers' jobs are now in peril, not to mention the surrounding community, and not to mention the surrounding businesses that depend upon those workers to stay in business.”