|
April 13, 2007
What
Every American Should Know By Congressman Joe Pitts There are some things every American should know about the Democrats’ $3 trillion budget resolution that passed in the House along party lines recently. House Democrats proudly boast that their plan increases funding in virtually every category of spending, all while achieving a balanced budget in five years. But they are far less eager to answer the obvious follow-up question: how is this wish-list paid for? The answer is simple, if a bit unpopular: In order to achieve balance, their spending blueprint requires the largest tax increase in American history, combined with some clever budget gimmickry. This information is especially relevant right now, as millions of taxpayers undertake the arduous task of filling out their tax return and sending Uncle Sam his share. The historic tax relief enacted by Congress in 2001 and 2003 allowed hardworking Americans to keep more of what they earned and infused our then-sluggish economy with the capital needed to grow. And grow it did. In the years since this relief went into effect, we’ve seen 7.5 million new jobs added to payrolls, record stock market performance, record homeownership, low unemployment rates, and steady GDP growth. The Democrat budget does away with most of this tax relief, resulting in a nearly $400 billion tax hike on hardworking families – the largest in American history. These are real tax increases, and they’ll be paid for by real people. According the House Budget Committee, roughly 4.7 million Pennsylvanians would see their taxes go up by an average of $3,029. Nationally, this tax increase would be felt by virtually every single working American: - 115 million taxpayers would see their taxes increase, on average, by $1,795 in 2011. - 48 million married couples would incur average tax increases of $2,899. - Taxes would increase, on average, by $2,181 for 42 million families with children. - 12 million single women with children would see their taxes increase, on average, by $1,082. - 17 million elderly individuals would incur average tax increases of $2,270. - Taxes would rise, on average, by $3,960 for 26 million small business owners. - Over 5 million individuals who previously owed no income taxes would become subject to the individual income tax. I’ve heard from several of my constituents about what this would mean for them. Some have said it will hurt their ability to pay for their kids’ college costs. Others said their ability to save for the future would take a big hit. One single parent said it would likely mean “less food on our table.” Whatever a family’s specific sacrifice might be, the principle is the same: less money for the people who worked hard to earn it, and more money for the government. Americans should also know the full story behind the gimmickry used by House Democrats to hide their budget’s fiscal irresponsibility. Using so-called “reserve funds,” the Democratic budget appears to designate funding for a host of new spending, from farm programs to education. Their plan uses 12 such reserve funds in all. In reality, however, these funds are empty; little more than a clever gimmick to help balance the books. In order to fund them, offsets would have to be made elsewhere, or taxes would have to be raised. Since the budget makes no offsets, the only option would be further tax hikes. In total, it would require $115 billion of additional spending to provide for these reserve funds. With no offsets, that would mean $115 billion in tax hikes on top of the nearly $400 billion that the budget already assumes. If Democrats are serious about fiscal responsibility, as they often claimed to be during the campaign season last fall, they haven’t shown it with their first major fiscal statement since taking control of Congress. I am prepared to work with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to address the significant fiscal challenges before Congress, but tax hikes and budget gimmicks are not a good first step.
### |
