Ron Wyden

I do not understand how one can assert that all tools are being used when we are talking about high-income non-filers.

This sends a message that there is not much of a deterrent there.

Thank you for holding this hearing on these important issues and for providing the opportunity to provide this statement for the record.

ZETA views the tax code as the federal government's most powerful tool to invest in strong domestic manufacturing and drive deployment of electric vehicles.

We support the bipartisan American Jobs in Energy Manufacturing Act led by Senators Manchin, Stabenow and Daines.

The reality is, social distancing and Social Security go together like water and oil.

The big challenge facing SSA is reaching people who are unable or prefer not to deal with the government online.

There are too many people for whom this is a huge burden, because they need their driver's licenses if they go for other government services.

For me, this hard work goes back to the days when I was co-director of the Oregon Gray Panthers and ran the legal aid service for the elderly.

We cannot have people's original documents flying around in the mail and putting it in a drop box.

Being cut off from face-to-face service is hardest on seniors and folks who rely the most on Social Security.

The reality is, social distancing and Social Security go together like water and oil.

The Senate Finance Committee chairman, Senator Wyden has suggested taxing capital gains mark-to-market for high-income households.

What is your assessment of the fact that this inequity is just baked into this two-tiered system?

I want to apologize to the committee's other guests. This has been, I think, a very good panel.

If you are a billionaire in an affluent suburb somewhere, to a great extent, if you have good accountants and good lawyers, you can pay what you want when you want to, and often hardly anything at all.

If you are a nurse in Medford, OR this afternoon and you treat COVID patients, you pay taxes with every single paycheck.

I think it is extraordinarily important that you are addressing income inequality through the tax code.

It seems to me that wealthy taxpayers have found ways to largely avoid the estate and gift taxes through complex shelters and trusts.

For every dollar we would provide for the IRS, they could collect anywhere between $5 to $10.

The corporate income tax is the most harmful tax for economic growth, because capital is the most mobile factor in the economy.

I think there is probably a number between 1 and 20 that actually would probably help us on the budget side.

We applaud the Senate Finance Committee for taking this ambitious first step in evaluating how the tax code can be better leveraged to reduce GHG emissions, strengthen U.S. energy security, and reduce energy costs.

That puts this committee in the driver's seat when it comes to job-creating legislation that addresses head-on the existential challenge of the climate crisis.

The Finance Committee meets this morning for its first hearing on the climate crisis since 2009.