Jack Reed: “in 2001, at the President's urging, Congress passed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, which…”

“in 2001, at the President's urging, Congress passed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, which provided $1.35 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years. While I have consistently voted to reduce the tax burden of working families, I voted against the President's tax cut because it left too few resources for debt reduction and came at the expense of reforming Medicare and Social Security, providing a prescription drug benefit, and supporting critical investments like education, the environment, and national defense. A year later, the economic evidence indicates that the President's 2001 tax breaks have had little positive effect on the economy. The economy continues to be in a slump and, now, we are in the midst of considering another large round of tax cuts that would help wealthy Americans. These tax cuts would also come at a time of record budget deficits and would break from the longstanding congressional practice of not passing tax cuts in times of war. The Republican budget resolution calls for $1.3 trillion in additional tax cuts over the next 11 years. In an unprecedented move, the House and Senate Republicans are including two reconciliation tax numbers--rather than one so they can use the reconciliation procedure to pass a bigger $550 billion tax cut. These tax cuts will add to long-term deficits and further impede economic growth.”