Blue Dog Dilemma

BLUE DOG DILEMMA: OPPOSE A 130 PERCENT TAX HIKE OR SUPPORT MAJORITY'S TAX-AND-SPEND AGENDA

MAJORITY READIES $81 BILLION DOWN PAYMENT ON THE MOTHER OF ALL TAX HIKES

November 9, 2007 I Permalink

Blue Dog Democrats face a difficult choice today: oppose a 130 percent tax hike on entrepreneurs and risk-takers who invest and create family-wage jobs or line up behind their party leadership's ever-expanding tax-and-spend agenda . Blue Dog Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) highlighted the dilemma faced by his colleagues earlier this week in CongressDaily AM:

"Why should House members have to walk the plank?" asked Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn. "This is a 130-percent tax increase ."

In The Hill today, Rep. Cooper's Blue Dog colleague Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL) further underscored the unenviable spot many Democrats find themselves in this morning:

"There are a lot of undecideds out there, and a lot of them are Blue Dogs," said Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.), a freshman member of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition who said he would vote no on the legislation. "I'm not sure they have the votes."

Just why are Reps. Mahoney, Cooper, and dozens of their Blue Dog colleagues so nervous this morning? The Hill offers an answer:

"Several senators have signaled their opposition to the tax change, fueling concern that vulnerable House Democrats could be forced to take a tough vote on a doomed measure."

So why is the Majority leadership in the House so intent on forcing their Members into such a difficult position? That's not hard to figure out at all. The $81 billion tax hike under consideration today is a mere down payment on what Ways & Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) really have in store for the American people: the Mother of All Tax Hikes. This breathtaking $3.5 trillion tax hike on – literally – every American taxpayer will be like manna from heaven for pork-barrel politicians in Congress. America's middle-class families and small businesses beware: you're going to pay the highest price of all.

According to a nonpartisan report released yesterday by the Joint Committee on Taxation, by 2011, 94 million families earning between $20,000 and $200,000 will see a tax hike under the Pelosi-Rangel Mother of All Tax Hikes, while only 800,000 families will see a tax reduction. That's in direct contrast to claims by the bill's supporters that the tax plan will reduce taxes for middle-income families and raise them only on the so-called "rich." Overall, a staggering 90 percent of American taxpayers will see a tax increase under the Pelosi-Rangel plan.

That's right: At a time when American families are feeling the crunch of spiking energy and health care costs, runaway college tuition, and steadily rising prices for consumer goods, Congress is preparing to confiscate even more of their paychecks to help pay for their pork-filled agenda. And it starts today, with the $81 billion down payment that has led to so many sleepless night for so many Blue Dog Democrats.

House Republicans stand ready to immediately implement a clean alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch that will protect 23 million Americans from paying an onerous tax they were never meant to pay in the first place. Moreover, Republicans want to permanently repeal the AMT in the long-term, make the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, and make the tax code fairer for working families and small businesses.

Will Blue Dog Democrats join them? Or will they support a 130 percent tax increase today – and a $3.5 trillion hike down the road – solely to satisfy their leadership's addiction to pork?

READ MORE:
· Fed Chair: Massive Tax Hike on American Families Would be "A Drag on the Economy" (11/8/07)
· Republicans Highlight Nonpartisan Report Showing "Mother of All Tax Hikes" Raises Taxes on Middle-Class Families (11/8/07)
· Majority's "AMT Patch" is an $81 Billion Down Payment on the Mother of All Tax Hikes (11/6/07)
· Boehner Statement on the Majority's Decision to Delay 'AMT Patch' Until After Thanksgiving (11/6/07)
· Speaker Pelosi, Key Democratic Leaders Embrace the "Mother of All Tax Hikes" (10/29/07)
· Fox News Reports on Democrats' Job-Killing "Mother of All Tax Hikes" (10/26/07)
· GOP Leaders Voice Opposition to Job-Killing $1 Trillion Plus Tax Hike Proposed by House Democrats (10/25/07)
· Boehner: Democrats' "Mother of All Tax Hikes" Will be a Job-Killer (10/25/07)
· As the Majority Stalls on an AMT Fix, 21 Million American Taxpayers Placed at Risk (10/24/07)
· One Hundred Billion in New Taxes Down, One Trillion to Go (10/24/07)
· Boehner Calls on Majority to Protect Taxpayers from the Alternative Minimum Tax (10/23/07)


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