Max Baucus: “One of the provisions not dealt with in the majority bill is taxation of Social Security benefits. That is no small…”

“One of the provisions not dealt with in the majority bill is taxation of Social Security benefits. That is no small item. It would cost about $60 billion over 10 years if it were to be addressed. I remind people that today the majority bill before us is about $248 billion over 10 years. So, in addition, $60 billion is the amount that senior citizens would have to pay as a consequence of the marriage tax penalty, which is not covered by the Finance Committee bill. I might add that, again, the minority bill does solve the Social Security benefits problem, as it does each of the other 62 remaining provisions in the Tax Code which may result in a marriage tax penalty. I hear people say, well, theirs is a better bill. But that doesn't get down to the specifics of what it actually does. I remind Senators that over half of the tax reduction in the bill offered by the Finance Committee goes to people who are already in a bonus situation. It has nothing to do with the marriage tax penalty. I am suggesting that those are dollars that could be perhaps better spent for debt reduction.”