Russ Feingold: “I will oppose H.R. 4297. It fails in nearly every aspect to justify enactment, but among the biggest of its defects is…”

“I will oppose H.R. 4297. It fails in nearly every aspect to justify enactment, but among the biggest of its defects is that it adds $70 billion to our already mounting deficits. The last thing we should be doing is adding to the burden already facing our children and grandchildren. What are we getting in exchange for this fiscal recklessness? Are we addressing some urgent tax need? Perhaps this bill finally gives us the kind of reform of the alternative minimum tax that is so clearly needed. No, we get another 1-year patch on the AMT problem, and that is it. This bill does nothing further to fix the AMT because the real tax agenda in this bill is to enact dividend and capital gains tax cuts of dubious merit, and which do not take effect for 2 years. Two years, Mr. President. We are running up a $70 billion credit card tab, and handing it over to our kids to pay, just so we will have a tax cut that takes effect in 2 years. Worse, the body is once again abusing the reconciliation process in order to shield these questionable tax cuts from the kind of scrutiny they so clearly need. Make no mistake: This bill would never pass without this abusive use of reconciliation. The benefits of this bill are grossly skewed to the most well off. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes that this tax bill provides middle-income households with an average tax cut of $20, about the price of two medium sized pizzas.…”