Frank Pallone: “When he was talking before about the payroll tax, what the Republicans are trying to do is to just look at the Federal…”

“When he was talking before about the payroll tax, what the Republicans are trying to do is to just look at the Federal income tax and say, unless you are paying a certain amount in Federal income tax you should not get any tax relief. The gentleman pointed out very vividly how payroll taxes for many people, working people, are even a bigger chunk of what they have to pay to the Federal Government than the income tax. When we think about other taxes, I know in New Jersey, for example, we have one of the highest property tax rates in the country. People are paying a tremendous amount of property tax. Why is it that all these other taxes, whether they be Federal, State, local, whatever they are, cannot be considered? People are paying them to the government. I do not think we should really make a distinction whether or not it is income, payroll, State, local, whatever it is. It is still taxes that you have to pay. People need relief. Plus the thing that really bothers me is that when this balanced budget agreement was struck between the President and Congress it was made quite clear by the President that the tax relief had to go to middle-income people and primarily to working people. Now the Republicans are basically breaking the deal, the way I see it.”