Political Quotes

“I rise this morning to spend a couple moments talking about the work we have to do between now and the end of the year. There are various ways to describe this, but it is usually described under the broad umbrella terminology called the fiscal cliff. Some debate the use of those words, but there is no question that we have very difficult decisions to make in the next couple of weeks. My primary concern--and I think this is a concern that is widely shared in the Senate and across the country--is, What will all this mean for middle-income families? What will their tax rates be? What will their near-term economic security be? And what can they expect for their families and for the communities within which they live, especially at this time of year? A lot of families are not just preparing for the new year and what will happen, they are also trying to make decisions about spending, about holiday shopping, about investments, about priorities in which they have to invest in their own lives. We know from some of the data, when it comes to debating what will happen to middle-income families and their tax rates, the positive side of extending those tax rates for middle-income families. We also know the downside of not getting that work done, not extending them. Just to give two examples, the Congressional Budget Office says extending the tax rates for the middle-class would boost gross domestic product by 1.3 percent and would increase jobs by 1.6 million.…”