On the recordDecember 20, 2011
I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding. Mr. Speaker, let's be clear on what's happening here today. While thousands of Nevadans are struggling to make ends meet, House Republicans are trying to sentence this middle class tax cut to death by committee, by conference. Instead of allowing an up-or-down vote, House Republicans are trying to kill this middle class tax relief bill by burying it in one more Washington bureaucracy--death by committee, conference. The American people have had enough of these cynical Washington games. I know that I certainly have. If House Republicans don't want a middle class tax cut, they should have the courage to stand up and vote ``no.'' The 1.2 million Nevadans who will see their taxes go up would be grateful to know the truth. The 28,000 unemployed Nevadans who are unemployed through no fault of their own, they would appreciate knowing the truth why their unemployment benefits are going to disappear on January 1. So why won't the Republicans do this? Why won't they just come clean and express their opposition to middle class tax relief and extension of unemployment benefits? Washington Republicans had no problem passing taxpayer giveaways to big oil companies making record profits. They had no problem passing tax breaks for corporations that shipped jobs overseas. They had no problem passing a bill to kill Medicare by turning it over to private insurance companies.…
