Political Quotes

“this Congress should delay any further tax cuts until we establish a budget that allows us to recognize current fiscal realities while we: ensure our security at home and abroad; meet our domestic priorities; and fulfill our Social Security and Medicare commitments. That said, this is a frustrating process for me. I have advocated reform of the estate tax since, as a state legislator, I worked with the late Representative Mary Rieke to fix Oregon's tax. There is no reason we cannot reform the existing system to be more equitable and protect closely held businesses. Again, the Republican leadership chose to play politics rather than make the system better. Instead of adopting immediate and much greater permanent relief now, the choice was to make most people pay more tax for 9 years, be subject to a capital gains tax and onerous recordkeeping, and trust that the ever-larger deficit doesn't unravel the whole program. I voted for the Democratic substitute, which would have given more relief, sooner to 99.6 percent of estates. I hope that we will someday stop playing politics to fashion a bipartisan solution that works and is fiscally responsible.”