Cass Ballenger: “I am pleased that a popular tax relief proposal, the so-called marriage tax penalty relief bill, is coming up for a vote…”

“I am pleased that a popular tax relief proposal, the so-called marriage tax penalty relief bill, is coming up for a vote today. Unlike President Clinton, I believe that we can achieve our budget and tax objectives simultaneously in this booming economy. If we keep reigning in new federal spending and waste, fraud and abuse in existing programs, we can provide this long overdue tax relief--and more--while protecting Social Security, Medicare and retiring the public debt. H.R. 6 is needed to make a down payment on eliminating the marriage tax penalty which roughly 67,439 couples in my congressional district alone pay Uncle Sam each year. A marriage tax penalty happens when a married couple pays more taxes by filing jointly than they would if each spouse could file as a single person. The bottom line is that the tax code punishes millions of couples by pushing them into higher tax brackets, and middle income American families are hit the hardest. Why should a man and a woman be forced to pay higher taxes simply for being married? Since President Clinton vetoed the marriage tax penalty relief package last fall, I am glad that we have started this process early this year in the hope we can get a bill which President Clinton will sign. After all, just two weeks ago he said he favored marriage tax penalty relief. He should work with us to give hardworking Americans a break.”