On the recordDecember 4, 2010
I thank my colleague, the chairman, for his leadership on this issue. Today, we stand at a crossroads. We have two vital issues facing this country. One is an economy that is moving too slowly. The second is a large deficit looming around the corner. How do we solve that problem? The best way to solve that problem, in my judgment, is to give tax breaks to the people who will spend it, the middle class, and to make sure the highest income people who have done very well over the last decade, instead of getting a tax break, make sure that money goes to deficit reduction. Most economists who would look from 10,000 feet up, who are not ideological, would say that is the solution. So why, then, do our colleagues on the other side of the aisle make the linchpin of their economic policy tax breaks for the wealthiest among us? It can't be because it is needed to stimulate the economy. Economic statistics show that very little of the dollars we give them in tax breaks will go to stimulate the economy. It can't be for the purpose of fairness. The highest income people in America, the people who make over $1 million, the people who make over $250,000, are the ones who have benefited the most in the last decade while middle-class incomes have declined. It can't be because they care about the deficit. Because if they did, that would be a much higher priority.
