Thomas Mott Osborne: “I believe very much in fairness and balance. When I heard the President's economic stimulus package characterized over…”

“I believe very much in fairness and balance. When I heard the President's economic stimulus package characterized over and over again as another round of tax breaks for the rich, what I was surprised that somebody did not answer was that part of the plan is $3.6 billion going to the States that are to be distributed in $3,000 increments to the unemployed as they pay for transportation and child care and training to get back into the workforce. Now, the unemployed are not by definition wealthy people. So that $3.6 billion does not go to the rich. The child tax credit increases by $400 per child. Now, not all children, certainly in the United States, are born to the wealthy. So a family of three would have $1,200 additional money in their pocket, and many of those families will be poor families. The marriage tax penalty has been accelerated. For the average married couple, that will mean $1,716 that they will receive. Certainly, not all married couples in the United States are wealthy. Many that I know are not wealthy at all. Mr. Speaker, 92 million tax filers this year will receive an average tax cut of $1,083.”