Political Quotes

“The Rangel substitute represents a better way to proceed on getting tax relief to the American people, in sharp contrast to the majority bill which we know is step one of a series of measures committing all of the general fund surplus based on an optimistic revenue forecast stretching out 10 years. The Rangel bill is responsible; it fits within a framework that commits nearly a trillion dollars of the projected surplus to tax relief, but also recognizes there are other budget priorities like paying down the debt. The majority bill backs off of debt retirement. It poses the prospect that we might dissipate the surplus now and leave the national debt behind for our children to take care of. The Rangel substitute focuses tax relief on middle-income families, and as a result, does a better job of giving them relief than the majority bill. It also gets relief to the millions of Americans who pay payroll taxes but earn at levels so modest they do not have income tax liability. They get nothing under the majority bill; they get relief under the Rangel substitute. Mr. Speaker, a final strength of the Rangel substitute is that unlike the majority bill, it fully protects the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.”