Bob Menendez: “it is clear everyone here would like to be able to pass a tax cut, but with a deficit looming, tax cuts cannot simply be…”

“it is clear everyone here would like to be able to pass a tax cut, but with a deficit looming, tax cuts cannot simply be distributed as free gifts that have no costs. The costs hang on all of our necks as an albatross until the deficit has been brought under control. Cuts, if any, should be given to those in need, and clearly families earning the median income, in my district, as an example, are in need. We can help them with the Gephardt substitute. The tax cuts in the Republican bill would be paid for by putting families in my district out on the street when their public housing crumbles from neglect and by snatching away hot lunches from their children. In return, the bill affords them an average tax cut of $10 a month, $10 a month. By contrast, families earning $200,000 or more will reach nearly $1,000 a month in cuts. Mr. Chairman, that is clearly a raw deal. And as for seniors, if they are going to lose their housing, senior housing repairs, their security patrols, their home energy assistance, their Medicaid being slashed, that is not a good deal for them either. The family vote, the 13th District vote in New Jersey, the one that makes sense and does not hang on the deficit is the Gephardt substitute.”