Max Baucus: “the author and poet, Cervantes, had a character say: My wages . . . I have earned with the sweat of my brows. And so it…”

“the author and poet, Cervantes, had a character say: My wages . . . I have earned with the sweat of my brows. And so it is with America's hard-working families. They have earned their wages with the sweat of their brows. This afternoon, along with a number of other Senators, I intend to offer an amendment that would take the surplus in the budget resolution and give it back to hard-working American families who earned it. First, our amendment makes the 10-percent tax bracket permanent. That is a tax cut for all taxpayers. Second, we are making permanent changes to the child tax credit. That is a $1,000 tax credit per child. This tax credit recognizes that a family's ability to pay taxes decreases as their family size increases. Unless we act, the child tax credit will fall to $500 per child in 2010. We are making permanent the marriage penalty relief. Couples should not pay more taxes because they are married. This relief makes sure a married couple filing a joint return has the same deductions and tax brackets as they would if they filed as individuals. We are making permanent the changes to the dependent care credit. This credit is important to working families. It recognizes the increased cost of child care for thousands of Americans, especially child care for households where both parents work outside the home. We are making permanent the changes to the adoption credit. Most adoptions cost more than $20,000.”