Bill Pascrell: “Middle class families are the backbone of our economy, and that is why we should not wait any longer to vote on…”

“Middle class families are the backbone of our economy, and that is why we should not wait any longer to vote on extending tax cuts for these middle class families. There is near universal agreement to extend these cuts. There is also agreement that we should extend the investment portion of the current Tax Code. So we need a universal agreement to extend the cuts. We can and must take this action now. There is uncertainty within American families and there is uncertainty in businesses. Extension of these taxes have been held hostage by the discussion of whether to extend the rates for the wealthiest Americans. We can't afford $700 billion over 10 years just for the highest income earners with 79 percent of that $700 billion, get this, going to less than one-fifth of 1 percent of all American taxpayers. That's preposterous. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has said the extension of middle class tax cuts would affect less than 2 percent of all small business. My colleagues--Capuano, Higgins, and Owens--have put forth our own proposal: a 5-year extension of the current middle class tax cuts, a 5-year extension of the current rates on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends, and a 1-year extension of the highest tax rates of those making up to $500,000.”