Bob Kerrey: “I am very sympathetic to the large amount of taxes that higher income Americans are paying. They have been contributing…”

“I am very sympathetic to the large amount of taxes that higher income Americans are paying. They have been contributing a substantial amount to deficit reduction since President Bush signed into law an increase in their taxes in 1990 and President Clinton essentially continued that in 1993. And the Republican Congress, to their eternal credit, continued it in 1997. We have been generating a lot, and I am grateful for the income. Indeed, I understand why a group of men and women putting together this tax bill would be more sympathetic to people making over $130,000 a year. That is most of us. In fact, indeed, it is all of us. We tend to hang out with people who make more than $130,000 a year, and we complain about our taxes, too. I understand why we are sympathetic. It seems to me what was missing in all of this, what I find to be very difficult to support, now that we have decided the Vice President is correct; we should have a targeted tax cut rather than across the board, I don't think it passes the fairness test.”