Political Quotes

“this amendment which I offer tonight with Senator Kerry of Massachusetts would put the U.S. Senate on record as saying that it is time to end tax writeoffs under our Tax Code for polluters. We know our country wants the Senate to get serious about balancing the budget. I know this has been a slow moving exercise in the past. They want a serious sprint to balancing the budget. I believe it is possible to make real progress in balancing the budget. I said in my campaign that I believe you can balance the budget, just the way Oregon families have to balance their budget. Under the proposal that I offer tonight, if it had been law over the last 6 years, about $500 million would have gone to reducing the deficit simply by ending tax writeoffs for those who pollute in our country. What happens today, even though we want a polluter-pay philosophy with respect to environmental protection, what we do is under the tax law provide a Macy's basement discount for those who actually have to pay penalties. So what I am proposing tonight with Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, is basic tax fairness. Under our amendment, no longer would average working families pay more on their taxes just because the polluter has received a writeoff on their tax return. What we propose is to put the Senate on record that all revenues collected, when you have the kind of current tax treatment for these penalties, would go back to the Treasury. It would not go into the pockets of the polluter.”