John Cornyn: “I appreciate the courtesy of my colleague from Maryland, and I promise I am going to be just no more than 10 minutes.…”

“I appreciate the courtesy of my colleague from Maryland, and I promise I am going to be just no more than 10 minutes. Tax Hikes and Small Business Two years ago, Members of both parties in this Chamber recognized that America's economic recovery was fragile, too fragile to absorb a tax increase. Since then, obviously, my colleagues across the aisle have changed their minds and experienced a change of heart. Yesterday the Senate voted to raise taxes. I have been amused by some of the headlines I have read that say the Senate voted to cut taxes, which is false. The Senate did not vote to cut taxes; the Senate voted to maintain the tax rates that have been in existence for 12 years for a certain class of taxpayers, while raising taxes on everyone else. I cannot explain the logic behind this vote. I can only assume it is some election-year calculus designed to galvanize the political base of our friends across the aisle. It most definitely is not good economics, and it is not good for job creation. For 3 years, it is no secret America has been living through the weakest economic recovery since the Great Depression. We know from history, from economics, and from common sense that the last thing you want to do amid persistently slow economic growth is to dramatically raise taxes on income and investment. If you want more economic activity, if you want growth, then you do not burden it further.…”