Bill Pascrell: “the President's tax cut plan is not only contrary to the goals and the needs of the American people, but it actually…”

“the President's tax cut plan is not only contrary to the goals and the needs of the American people, but it actually flies in the face of the facts of the promises we made here in the 106th Congress. The fiscal year 2000 budget resolution, do Members remember that? It passed the House 221 to 208 on an almost entirely party-line vote. This budget resolution specifically promised that tax cuts would focus on "the lower- and middle-income taxpayers." The Republican majority promised that Congress will not approve "any tax legislation" that would provide substantially more benefits to the top 10 percent of the taxpayers than to the remaining 90 percent. That is right in the budget resolution. What happened to the promise? The tax plan offers substantially more benefits, 60 percent of the President's tax refund, to the top 10 percent of the American taxpayers. In fact, this tax cut returns 43 percent, nearly half of its benefits, to the top 1 percent of the earners. Why are my Republican colleagues now abandoning the promise that they made to the low- and middle-class folks of America?”