Op-Eds

Taxes

Washington, DC, April 9, 2009
Millions of Americans will file their taxes on April 15. On a day when countless Americans are protesting high taxes at Tea Parties, it is a startling reminder of just how much of their hard-earned money the government takes out of their paychecks.
Millions of Americans will file their taxes on April 15. On a day when countless Americans are protesting high taxes at Tea Parties, it is a startling reminder of just how much of their hard-earned money the government takes out of their paychecks.
 
 It was just two days ago that the American people celebrated Tax Freedom Day – a day when families put in enough work hours to cover the tax bill for this year. Unfortunately, the amount of time the American people have to work to pay their tax bill will only continue to increase because of the policies of the President and liberal majority in Congress.
Recently, Congress passed the President’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year. It is a whopping $3.5 trillion spending plan paid for at the expense of our children and grandchildren. The federal government doesn’t come close to collecting that amount of revenue – despite its best efforts. So it is faced with either borrowing the money from foreign countries like China, or raising taxes on already struggling citizens. Even with record deficits of more than a trillion dollars, liberals in Washington have decided to do both.
The President promised that he would not raise taxes “one single dime” on 95 percent of Americans. But, after just a few short months in office it is clear this was more rhetoric than reality. Contained within the President’s budget are tax increases that will hit every American and small business. At a time when our nation’s economy is suffering, increasing taxes will do more harm than good.
To start with, the President proposes raising taxes on the “wealthy” but what that will really mean is tax increases on small businesses. According to information from the Internal Revenue Service, 60 percent of all small business income is earned by individuals who make at least $200,000—exactly the level of income on which President Obama proposes massive tax hikes. Small businesses employ more than half the U.S. workforce. Increasing their taxes is a job killer and will only continue to slow economic growth.
It gets worse. Another growing threat is found in the ever looming Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Created in 1969, the AMT was designed to target 155 wealthy individuals who, through loopholes in the tax code, paid little or no income tax. Unfortunately, this tax was never adjusted for inflation, so high income levels in 1969 which were considered wealthy have continued to be the same income threshold for paying the AMT penalty in 2009. This means, due to poor lawmaking, next year more than 30 million tax filers face the fear of paying this stealth tax.
Instead of completely eliminating this tax, Congress passed a one-year “patch,” delaying the tax hit for another year. Republicans have long supported a permanent solution to this problem, and even passed a law in 1999 to remove the threat, but it was unfortunately vetoed by President Clinton. So each year the AMT continues to harass more middle-class taxpayers. In their most recent budget, liberals once again refuse to deal with this problem despite our efforts to fix it.
The liberal budget also brings back to life the death tax, scheduled to expire next year. This is another part of the tax code that continues to harass families, in this case, families grieving over the loss of a loved one. And to add insult to injury, the President proposes taxing charitable contributions, undermining the generous giving of Americans and forcing greater dependence on the federal government.
Even all these new taxes won’t cover the cost of the President’s new spending proposals. The American people know we can’t spend and tax our way back to a growing economy. I will continue to oppose the failed policies of wasteful spending and ever higher taxes, and fight on behalf of tax relief and fiscal discipline.