Paul Tonko: “Thank you, Representative Garamendi, and thank you for leading us in an hour of discussion, of dialogue, that is most…”

“Thank you, Representative Garamendi, and thank you for leading us in an hour of discussion, of dialogue, that is most critical to the economic viability, to the economic comeback of America's middle class. You talk about some of these incentives that would be addressed through a payroll tax deduction. It's all about empowering our middle class, enhancing their purchasing power, enabling us to enhance that demand out there for products that then obviously translates into job growth; because with more demand upon manufacturers in this country, with more consumer confidence, with absolute increase in purchasing power, there will be a positive outcome. There's no denying that unemployment is driving the deficit; and if we can turn that around, if we can invest in ways that enhance the middle class, that's good for all strata, all income strata in this Nation. And what's been lost in the logic here for the majority is that the empowerment of the middle class stands to produce gains for everybody, and we saw what happened in the buildup before our entry here into the House. In the period of the recession, it was all about borrowing, totally, the money that was necessary to spend on a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. And some would suggest those are the job creators. But what happened was we realized 8.2 million jobs lost, and so that didn't work. We ought not go back and revisit that formula, because it was not a formula for success.…”